FROM THE OLD PARADISE TO THE NEW

"In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."—Rev. 22:2.

The history of the human family began with the first Paradise; it will be concluded in the prophetic Word of God by the entrance of this family into the new Paradise, situated on a new earth under­neath a new heaven. This shows us that God's plan of salvation is dual, also that the development of the human being for the eternal home takes place on his journey between the old Paradise and the new.

The first Paradise consisted of a pleasure garden, where all manner of fruit trees, bushes, and flowers, contributing to the hap­piness and sustenance of life, permitted a peaceful and uncon­cerned existence. When the planting had been completed and the home had been set in order for the family, God placed man therein.

With much care he made man susceptible of development, an image of himself. He made him of earth and called him Adam, meaning earthy. He then gave life to this earthy image by rais­ing the perfectly organized being and transforming him from dead earth to living flesh. By this, however, only the physical image of the Creator was perfected. It remained for Adam to be developed in knowledge—to be instructed in the school of life. For this pur­pose God had created developing-agents, corresponding with the developable capabilities of the earthy man. The tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil belonged to these agents.

The tree of life contained a life elixir of secret power, by means of which the vital powers of the earthy man were increased as long as he continued to have access to this tree to eat of its delightful fruit. This is corroborated by the fact that the way to the tree of life was closed by the sword of the cherubim, so that death predominated as soon as Adam deviated' from the freedom which had been given him in the truth, and gave ear to the voice of falsehood. And when he transgressed he was bound in slavery under the prince of death.

The tree of knowledge was a beautiful product of God's genius, capable of appealing to the intelligent mind and of inducing the reasoning powers. But God prohibited the first pair from eating of its fruit, and the threat of death punishment was placed where enticement would affect them the most. The object was to teach man how to restrain the lusts of the flesh, to teach him to obey God's Word and to value that life-lengthening power which was capable of transforming him, on the road of obedience, into a being like his Father. God had said that he desired to make of him a Michael, that is, one like God', so that man would be able to reign over the kingdom God had created for man, which fact is seen from the fol­lowing counsel and commission:

"And God 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, andover the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God 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 moveth upon the earth."—Gen. 1:26-28.

Thus Adam was created a king over the creation that was placed on a plane below him, and the kingdom was a miniature representa­tion of the new Paradise, although wisdom and experience unto happiness were lacking there. The development of man into a Michael must be brought about through the cooperation of two creating minds, God's and man's. For this reason God permitted the liar to tempt man, for if man could not realize the necessity of obeying his Father's Word, he could never acquire a perfect ruling-ability, it being impossible for anyone to exercise a bliss-bringing ruling-power who has not first learned to rule over the lusts of his own flesh.

As a result of unrestrained desires, which the sorcerer aggra­vated to such a degree that they desired improper enjoyment in, opposition to the life-giving Word of God, the drama of the human world began to evolve close by the tree of knowledge. Then and there Adam and Eve began to understand the power of the Word of God, and the value of life—there man was obliged to commence his journey through the kingdom of death.

`And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put, forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever [become an immortal sinner] : therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."—Gen. 3:22-24.

Principality with divine ruling-power, peace, bliss, security, and the superabundance of all things—all slipped out of the hands of Adam. But the secret power in the promise that the seed of the woman, the Son of man, would come and return to man what he had lost, was given him—and us—as spiritual food on the journey of faith and hope. In the degree that the bitterness of death pressed on, the number of promises increased as a stream of running water, giving the dying family solace and hope. Now we can understand that it was through the good grace of God that man did not possess inherent immortal life but was made dependent on the tree of life in order to continue to live; it is good fortune for us all that the slaves of unrestrained lusts are cut off from life.

Though we all feel the need of reaching the tree of life, no one can do so before the new Paradise becomes a reality. Man himself has created a tree of knowledge, and the liar that took up his abode in, God's tree of knowledge now has his continual habitation in man's tree of knowledge. By means of lie and deceit, contained within an outer covering of the truth of God, he has founded his kingdom at the expense of man, of God, and of the truth; and by preaching through his angels lie continues to develop this king­dom of apostasy. Now it is fully developed and stands under the judgment of the words of Christ, "Every plant, which my Father bath not planted, shall be rooted up."

When the tree of life was fenced off from the reach of man, it remained for him to listen to and obey the Word of God inorder to perpetuate his life by means of the secret power emanating from the Creator. If man eats of this Word his mind becomes united with the Fountain of Life, and the Word creates a new, a spiritual, life, which becomes enveloped by a new body when the secret power of faith liberates the earthy being from the power of the kingdom of death by giving him birth into the new world.

The power contained within the Word is as it were a stream, commencing in the first Paradise and attaining to completeness only when the new Paradise is a reality and all the Word of God has become materialized. It follows man just as the stream of words which the serpent started in the tree of knowledge has fol­lowed him and has grown wider from time to time.

Observe carefully that the tree of knowledge was connected with two gods, both capable of creating things. When Adam's mind was controlled by the serpent's mixed gospel of falsehood and truth, which undermined confidence in the fear of God, he severed himself from the pure kingdom of truth and the tree of the secret power of life. He had drunk from the cup of another god. And now it was necessary that the secret power clothed in words should once more gain his obedience in order to prepare for him the way to the new kingdom which leads through the kingdom of death. Thus the Word becomes a stream of life, adjacent to which is planted the governmental tree of truth. This governmental tree presents to us prefigures of coining realities. Let us now see if we can discern between the governmental tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil, in which the serpent is god and from which he rules over the people through the works of man.

Let us climb a hill overlooking a natural landscape on, one side and a large city on the other. What do you see? On the one side you see the fruit-bearing earth, which sustains from an invisible artery of life the myriads of living things which the Creator first planted in, his kingdom. Heaven and earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars, birds and fishes, lions and lambs—all obey the law that was established yonder in Adam's little world. The will of God is obeyed to the minutest detail; everything moves in accord­ance with it—except man. All of this is a faint shadow of the kingdom of life, which is to be created by the prophetic Word that sustains nature to this very day.

What do you see in the valley on the other side of you? A city, consisting of brick, stone, iron, clay, and wood. There are palaces, high defiant towers pointing threateningly toward heaven, fire­vomitting cannons, and bloody swords. There you see a drudging, toiling mass of people and beasts. And if you will apply your ear to the ground, you will notice that it trembles, as if the earth itself were groaning in its shackles—for the brick and stone pave­ments are like iron bands which do not allow it even a little air.

Listen! Don't you hear how both animals and people sigh and wail? Violence and crime, suffering and tears, want and famine, privation and despair, rise up toward heaven like a grinning skeleton in the center of the city! Is not this "good and evil"—a modern Nimrodian product? Let us step down into the city! Con­sider the residents of the comfortable palaces! They are now eating freely of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Sparkling jewels and ornaments decorate women clothed in price­less silks, who coquettishly entertain themselves in the company of well dressed, half intoxicated men. Delicious dishes whet the appetite, and the foaming contents of the varicolored wine goblets give the drinkers pleasant sensations, while gifted voices capti­vate the ear with light vaudeville. Ah, it is enchanting in there! Laughter and flattery, false promises and empty phrases sweep through the whole gathering. "Good !" cry the eaters. Of how much value is the Word of God to them at this moment? They do not wish to lend even a moment's thought toward it.

Let us go out into the street and look at the contents of the glimmering shop windows! Do you notice the magnificent prod­ucts which genius has made of the different raw materials? There you see all the metals of earth, the furs of wild beasts, the elegant plumage of birds, the warm blankets of sheep, and the skins of cattle—everything has here assumed attractive shapes. Do you feel how your desires agitate within you? Articles of luxury, things which your life has no need of, exercise the greatest draw­ing power. Do you feel how the sight of this fruit of knowledge banishes from your mind the memory of the natural, inartificial kingdom you first saw on the other side of that high hill? Do you see the flowers in that magnificent flowerpot? Enchanting, isn't it? And they do not wither—they are artificial. The painting does not change like the original it represents, and you forget the suppressed kingdom of life, while you plant as it were this beautiful but dead fetus in your enchanted heart—a tree "good for food ... pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired."—You have said the same as Eve.

Had you been placed before that tree of good and evil

Enchanted and enrapt by ripe and golden fruit—Would you have had the power to disregard the devil,