The Perished Kingdom
Series Week Two – John Boda
Genesis Chapter 3 – 11
into the next division focusing on these nine chapters.
At this point it appears that we are only covering part of Genesis, but this series will encompass the entire Bible! It is just that the first two
Kingdom divisions are seen here, but once we begin the next session, it will begin to branch outwards, with other sessions sweeping over
many books within a long period of time, until we reach the very last one – The Perfected Kingdom – as seen in Revelation 21 -22
.
Trouble in Paradise
Firstly, I want to state this fact; I believe that the account of Adam & Eve is a historical fact! Even though we must be careful not to takeeverything literally, this account is not a myth, a parable, or some old fable!
Thinking logically, if Genesis is not valid, and it is more fairy tale than true, then we must also apply the same result to hundreds of other
Bible passages, as well as to Jesus himself, because the are all intertwined and entangled!
No other book of the Bible is more quoted or referred to by other books of the Bible than Genesis.
There are at least 200 quotations or direct references to the first eleven chapters of Genesis in the New Testament.
On at least six occasions, Jesus quoted or referred to a person or event in Genesis as if it was fact, including Adam himself.
What is this logic? Simply this:
It is impossible to reject the historicity and divine authority of the book of Genesis without undermining, and in effect repudiating the
entire Bible!
If the first Adam is not real - the second Adam (Jesus) is false
If Genesis is not true - then neither are those prophets and Apostles who believed it was true, including Jesus himself, who must be a false
prophet because he believed it to be true.
If Jesus was a false prophet - our salvation is no good, if that is so - throw out your Bible, forget church; go home, we are all doomed!
Genesis IS valid and it IS entangled with many other books and people of the Bible, it cannot be a myth unless the entire Bible is false and
in error or mythological also!
In the first verse of Genesis Three, we see the serpent introduced. Who is he? Where did he come from? What was his appearance like?
The main reason we know the serpent actually is the devil, or Satan, is because the Satan is called the serpent elsewhere. (Besides the
obvious implication from this text)
(Rev. 12:9, 14, 15 & Rev. 20:2)
As far as his origin:
There are two passages in scripture which shed much light on this subject, Isaiah 14:4-21 and Ezekiel 28:2-19. Although Isaiah is speaking
about the King of Babylon, and Ezekiel is speaking to the King of Tyre, these scriptures can have a much deeper spiritual meaning, and be
addressed to another. This is a common scripture principal; many scriptures have both a historical and a prophetic aspect. Most Bible
scholars agree that these passages are prophetically speaking about Lucifer, Satan, or the serpent.
To summarize:
The serpent began as God's highest Angel called Lucifer. One who possibly was much more than an Angel, and guarded God's throne, (It is
possible he was God's worship leader.) But because of pride deep within his heart, of wanting to actually ascend higher than God, he was
cast down along with 1/3 of his followers and is forever doomed.
Finally, as to his appearance, all I can say for certain is that, at this point in Genesis 3:1, he is NOT a snake or in appearance of a serpent at
all! (Remember that he his called the serpent here in hindsight, long after the event)
He was probably beautiful and also covered in glorious light as Adam and Eve (II Cor. 11:14) Why am I so sure that he was not a serpent or snake?
There is not a single mention of any snake in the Garden of Eden.
The serpent is cursed to crawl on his belly, but never elaborates if like a snake, or actually a snake.
The serpent was initially upright and beautiful and probably covered in light. Every picture of a snake dangling from a tree tempting Eve is
wrong!
There is no mention of apples or an apple tree anywhere here or elsewhere in the Bible for this event! We have no idea what kind of fruit it
was, but we can be sure it was not bad or evil! God created a perfect paradise and would never create anything evil.
Since the Bible speaks of “The tree of the knowledge of good & evil”, and we see a good God walking with Adam and an evil Satan-serpent,
many people wrongly assume that this is introducing a concept called “Dualism” – which is basically very similar to the Star Wars idea of the
force, with equal but opposite sides, one good and one bad. Nowhere in the Bible can we find any support for this! God, and God alone is
supreme and omnipotent, everything else is part of the created order and dependant on God to even exist.
While human beings (and Satan & angels) are all created and have a beginning, all also have an eternal existence, which is why it is
extremely important to find our way back to God now! A very common error is to believe that eternal life consists of simply being bored,
playing a harp on a cloud! But here in Eden, before sin, we see Adam was commanded to WORK and tend the garden! (The Garden of Eden
probably was huge, and also he was given the task of naming the animals, and probably much more we don’t know of) God is the ultimate
creative artist and will no doubt have an entire universe filled with activity and endless wonder!
What Perished?
Since we are discussing “The Perished Kingdom”, what actually got lost and perished upon the entrance of sin? It is very important to
understand this in order to connect the dots to what will be restored in the final perfected Kingdom.
Here are two key things that became broken, lost, and perished by sin;
1. Relationships – with God (vertical) and with others (horizontal) Previously, Adam & Eve had a direct, unbroken relationship with God and
with each other! But immediately after sin entered we see God walking in the garden as before, but Adam was afraid and hid himself, and his
both of them bypass responsibility and begin blaming each other, the serpent, and even God!
2. Eternal Life – The physical lives of Adam & Eve continued, for a time, but they severed their connection with God and eventually grew old
and died, like all of mankind does still. (It is believed that both of them also found their way back to God and were saved by God’s grace like
we are today) Death, disease and decay was never the perfect plan of God, but rather was allowed to develop as a result of the
consequences of sin.
Note: Further progress/regress in a broken relationship with human beings led to the very first murder within the first family! (Cain & Abel)
God’s Plan Revealed
We must realize and understand that, unlike us, God cannot be caught off guard or unaware! After Adam & Eve sinned, God did not panic andmove into some plan B! Even though sin and death were never his perfect will, they were part of his permissive will and he knew exactly
what would happen all along!
(This is very difficult to grasp and understand; If God is all knowing and all powerful and pure love, then how could he even allow the
slightest bit of any evil?!)
Even Einstein couldn’t figure that one out (really) and many people exit churches and give up on their faith because of this. There is no way
to cover this issue here within this series, however two words can greatly help to come to grips with this; Free Will, that’s all we can say for
now, except also to be encouraged that God and his plan for the Kingdom and his King to reign after restoring a world and people of sin and
death, is a beautiful master plan that emerges more and more clearly as we walk more and more forward on this journey of faith! (Do not
lose hope or be discouraged by not knowing all the answers now! God designed our lives of faith to progressively reveal more as we
exercise faith and trust in him by moving forward)
How do we know that God was not surprised and was in full control?
“He (God) chose us in him (Christ) before the foundation of the world…(Ephesians 1:4
Also two chapters later Paul states that God had an eternal purpose in his plan for the world and us! (Ephesians 3:11)
The New Testament Greek word for "Gospel", is - Euangellion
Pronounced (A-won-gay-lee-on) [won is like john]
[euangellion] Eu = Good / Angel= Message - Literally-A good message.
Gen 3:15 is often called the Proto-e-wan-gay-leon (Proto - means first/before)
Here in this verse, Genesis 3:15, we have the very first prophetic announcement of the coming cure for the curse also just stated.
“And I (God) will put enmity between you (Serpent) and the woman (Eve – All Mankind – Christ) and between your seed and her seed, he
shall crush your head and you shall bruise his heal.”
The imagery here is of one [Jesus] who comes in bare feet, and stomps on the head of the serpent, destroying it, but in doing so, bruises his heel and suffers.
(Paul possibly makes reference to this in Romans 16:20)
Some translations say "her offspring..." but it is better translated, "...her seed". This is the only time in scripture where we find a reference to
a woman's seed. Everywhere else, whenever this term is used, it speaks of the man's seed. (It is the man which has the seed and fertilizes
the woman's egg).
This one exception is almost universally accepted to be speaking of Jesus - as the seed, and the woman - is the Virgin Mary who would give
birth to him. She is the only woman who actually had the seed within her, divinely planted by God. Jesus, and him alone, is considered the
woman's seed! (Although in a larger sense, the woman is also Israel (Revelation 12) and the human race.
This verse is spoken by God in the Garden of Eden in the context of Adam & Eve right after they first sinned! It really is the first “Gospel”
message of “Good News” and God reveals that his King would come and set things right again, someday, in other words, within God’s big
picture his plan is to bring the King and his Kingdom down to earth and restore what had perished and become broken.
Genesis 4 -11 – The Rest of the Text
Still within this division of “The Perished Kingdom” are several more chapters in Genesis, up through chapter 11, let’s briefly cover some ofthe highlights as they relate to this Kingdom;
1. Cain & Abel (Genesis 4)
Most people are familiar with this account, and we will not go into a detailed exposition of it here. However it is interesting and amazing that
the seemingly recent introduction of sin into the world leads directly to murder within the first family! As is the case with most scripture
stories, there is more going on than we realize by just a surface cavalier reading.
We must understand that God is not the only one who thinks, plans, and lives within the big panoramic picture, but also his arch enemy
Satan as well! (Satan was once the highest arch-angel, the most powerful, and the closest to God in heaven and was called – Lucifer – before
he led a rebellion against God and desired to actually BE God)
Even though he is in a fallen state and completely evil, he still retains much of his brilliant intellect and power. He also completely knows and
understands God’s plans of establishing his Kingdom, and he will do anything to prevent it!
Now, fast forward back to the story of Cain & Abel; Cain killed his brother Abel, but not just because his brother’s sacrifice was accepted by
God and his wasn’t, he didn’t do it just because of envy, jealousy, or hate. Cain killed Abel because he was manipulated, influenced, and
inspired to do so by Satan, because Satan knew that God cannot lie, and God promised (To him in Eden) that the woman’s seed would
crush his head! So he wasn’t taking any chances and first deceived Cain to join his cause, then when Abel couldn’t be won over, he had him
killed.
If that sounds like the result of a wild imagination, please follow this logic;
A. Even Eve thought her children could possibly be the promised deliverer God spoke about as evident by a deeper look into her own words,
“Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said,” I have acquired a man from the Lord”. (Genesis 4:1) (Most
scholars agree by looking at the original Hebrew that she meant more than a man, but the man/seed spoken of by God, and probably
thought if not Cain, it was Abel.)
B. God comes to Cain and warns him before; “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its
desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” (Genesis 4: 7) Satan, as the Serpent, introduced sin to Adam & Eve and the world! He is the
originator of sin on earth! If this was a court of law, his fingerprints are all over this account and he would be convicted.
C. Cain kills his brother, and then lies to God when God asks him where Abel is. Once more we have Satan’s influence, and probably direct
involvement as Jesus later tells us more information about Satan’s character; “He (Satan) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not
stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of
it. “ This is Jesus speaking! When he said that Satan was a murderer from the beginning, it can only mean the beginning of mankind here in
the “book of beginnings”- Genesis, in other words, Jesus was implicating Satan as the murderer, behind the scenes, of Abel by Cain! Also,
Cain further follows in his footsteps by proceeding to lie, to God, about Abel’s whereabouts, and Jesus calls Satan – The Father of Lies.
My point is that Satan recognizes, as all of us should also, that God is up to a grand scheme! It is bringing his Kingdom to earth, and involves
his people, everyone who believes in him by faith through grace.
Of course, if God makes a promise, it CANNOT be broken! It is utterly amazing to me that anyone would try to go against God in that
manner, especially a being who knows the supreme all-powerful, all-knowing God like Satan does when he served him before as Lucifer!
But amazing as it is, this really is Satan’s “modus operandi”, he tries this over and over again all through the Bible, and actually is not even
finished yet, but continues today and much of the last day events concern this same plot of Satan coming against God, even eventually face
to face in the final battle called Armageddon.
2. The Flood (Genesis 5 -10)
(I have included chapters 5 & 10 in the story of the flood as they have important links to it, which we don’t have time to cover here)
Once again, most of us all know this story, or do we? Because once again, there is much more here than what can be gathered from only a
surface reading! ( If you want common potatoes you can skip around on the top surface almost anywhere, but if you want diamonds, you
have to dig deeply, down in the ground where they are forged by heat and pressure)
Yes, Satan was at it again, in his attempt to prevent the promised deliverer coming, who would be the personification of the Kingdom, and
establish God’s Kingdom on earth – Jesus! (Once again, time will not allow a detailed study into this aspect and the flood. If you want to go
deeper into it, please see my study entitled; “Giantology” posted here as well.)
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But to try, very hard, to make a long story short, Genesis 6 speaks of the “Sons of God” – “Elohim”, and
the actual race of giants – “Nephilim” produced by this strange breeding program. Then later, in the Bible, we find many accounts of huge,
evil, races of giants who oppose God and his people and almost succeed in preventing Israel from entering the Promised Land! Even though
Genesis 6 is rather mysterious as to who they were and what they were up to, when you connect the dots elsewhere, including many
reputable historical books which give us much more information, you find out;
The terrible judgment of the flood, sent by God to destroy all people and land animals on the earth, except for Noah and his family, was
very likely God’s solution to stopping Satan’s plan of corrupting the human race with an evil hybrid mixture of fallen angels and human
beings, by which, if successful, Satan would have prevented God from sending his son – Christ – to be born of a human woman – Mary –
thereby preventing the King Messiah – promised deliverer from arriving, thereby stopping God’s Kingdom from coming!
I know that may seem like a huge leap of science fiction mixed with craziness! But I caution you, please stay within the big panoramic
picture of the Kingdom of God. Also, if you care to dive into my more detailed study (Giantology) you will find that the text and context
almost clearly confirms that this is true.
Furthermore, this is not some wild idea that I came up with! But there have been many reputable, and brilliant Bible scholars who believed
and taught this in the past, as do many today. To be honest, there also are some who don’t believe this scenario, and that is fine. It is not a
matter of life and death or salvation! But it IS very important within this series of the Kingdom of God, and connecting all the dots to reveal God’s Big Picture.
3. The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11)
Finally we come to the last segment of “The Perished Kingdom” and the story of the Tower of Babel. This account is probably not as famous
and popular as Cain & Abel or the Flood, but is also is part of this series and fits within this template, and once we understand it, one more
piece of the puzzle is added.
Contrary to popular political speeches, and most people’s hopes and beliefs, world unity is NOT a good thing! (Just as our environment does
little good in ensuring peace, safety, and quality of life – note; The Garden of Eden was a perfect paradise, yet Adam & Eve sinned!) Likewise,
world unity does not, and cannot lead mankind into anything but evil, sin, and destruction!
I know that this sounds extreme, but we have our first example of world unity (Maybe the first and only time ever) and that was exactly
what it resulted in! (Once again, further deeper study into this subject can be found in another study posted here entitled; “The Theory of Unity”.)
Briefly, this tower at Babel was a world-wide rebellion against God, most likely led by a man named Nimrod, who is mentioned here; “Cush
begot Nimrod, and he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before (against) the Lord, therefore it is said, “Like
Nimrod, the mighty hunter before (against) the Lord.” (Genesis 10: 8-9) (Note; The word “before” in many Bible’s is actually better
translated “against” from the original language)
Even though this is one of a few references to this man, we find much more written about him in other historical books, all which tell us that
he was the focal point and leader of this rebellion. At any rate, regardless of who led it, we know that it was a world-wide rebellion against
God.
Many Bible scholars still debate just what the actual tower was, likely an ancient “Ziggurat”, but possibly something much more and
extensive. At any rate, at this point, Satan had succeeded in enlisting the entire known world at that time to rebel against God! He tried but
failed in killing off God’s people, he tried and failed in corrupting the entire human race to prevent Christ from coming, but here, he succeeds
in deceiving the world into joining his cause of rebelling against God, which ultimately would fulfill his overall purpose and goal – to prevent
the King from coming which would in turn prevent the Kingdom of God being established on the earth!
And also once again, like a endless Groundhog Day movie plot, God shows up and stops Satan’s plans to ensure his plans continue!
(Note; This account of a world-wide rebellion against God, possibly led by a chief rebel, was very much a type account of another final
enactment of a similar scenario as seen in Revelation by Antichrist.)
Also note; It was God himself who came down and gave them different languages, and scattered them for their own good! (Genesis 11: 7-8)
Further confirmation that God desires the world to remain divided by sovereign countries until the Kingdom of God is established;
“And he (God) made from one blood every nation to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and
boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in hope that they might grope for him, and find him, though he is not far
from each one of us.” (Acts 17: 26-27)
Conclusion
Remember we had defined the Kingdom of God as;God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule and blessing
Here in “The Perished Kingdom” where is the Kingdom of God?
1. God’s People - the line of Seth
2. God’s Place - temporarily banished
3. God’s Rule - a curse
In the previous chapter, “The Pattern of the Kingdom” review;
1. God’s People – Adam & Eve
2. God’s Place - The Garden of Eden
3. God’s Rule - His word, perfect relationships.
pattern of the Kingdom, is the very first form of government! Not many people think about this, or are even aware of this, but it is found in
Genesis 3:24;
“So he drove out the man and he placed Cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard
the way to the tree of life.”
Before sin entered the world, there was no need for any kind of government, as God ruled supreme over everything, and gave Adam
authority to rule under him over all the earth and animals (not over other people) and it was all in perfect harmony and order with no
conflicts whatsoever! (In effect, John Lennon’s song “Imagine” describes it well, but this utopia only occurred before sin, and now, since we
live in a sin-infected world, it cannot ever occur again apart from God reversing the curse and eliminating sin completely, which he will when
the Kingdom of God finally is realized in full, and comes to earth as depicted in the last two chapters of Revelation.)
Note; If you have difficulty in seeing how Angels standing guard can portray a form of government, please see Romans 13: 1-7 in a Biblical
description of government, “a terror to those who do evil”.
Here in a fallen, perished, broken world, with Adam & Eve banished and the curse of sin infecting everything is where our story could have
ended. Yet God would have still been just, perfect, and we would have had no complaint of injustice, as God had already clearly stated that if
they took of the forbidden fruit, they would die, and afterwards, a curse was placed on the earth. It could have been all over, case closed.
But God also already promised hope and deliverance too! If we didn’t have one verse, Genesis 3:15, at this point, we could be led to believe
that all mankind and the earth was doomed.
(Can anyone recall what that verse declares?)
We are concluding the Perished Kingdom at the end of Genesis 11, and the stage is set for God to begin phase two in his incredible plan to
restore mankind, the earth, and bring the Kingdom of God back to earth!
The next session is entitled, “The Promised Kingdom” and involves one man, Abraham! It also involves many more chapters. It would help if
you could read as many as possible, starting from Genesis chapter 12 through Genesis chapter 25.
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