It's amazing while reading the Bible (from Genesis to Revelation, the word of God doesn't begin in John and Romans 9) how often themes repeat. This is because the promises of God do not change. We see this promise in the first book of the Bible multiple times. After creating man, God gives Adam the first commandments.
(Gen 1:28-29 NKJV) Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." And God said, "See, I have given you every herb [that] yields seed which [is] on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
These were positive commandments:
- That we should be fruitful with one another, bearing children for God.
- Fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion (lordship / sovereignty) over all the animals
- That at this time, before the flood - man was to be a vegetarian. God gave us "every herb" that yields seed and every fruit for food. There are many theories on this, that we didn't need meat before the flood as the atmosphere was different. I do think geology bears this truth out, but it's outside of scripture.
God then gives Adam (before creating Eve) a negative commandment, the first dietary restriction.
(Gen 2:16-17 NKJV) And the LORD God 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, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." The trees represent obedience and sin, Jesus and Satan. the choice to serve righteousness, or lawlessness. The dietary restriction is an inference to clean and unclean.
Here we see God make a promise pivoting on man's free will choice. Man must choose to serve God and eat from the tree of life, or to serve the flesh and take from the tree of death, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What this in fact is telling us is, it's the tree of accountability. Before they ate of the tree they were blind to sin. Just as Paul tells us.
(Rom 7:9-11 NKJV) I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which [was] to [bring] life, I found to [bring] death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed [me]. He was alive before knowledge of the law came to Him, as a child of God, we are free from accountability. We have no knowledge of good and evil.
(Deu 1:39 NKJV) 'Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.
This is also why Jesus tells us to be like Children, to have no knowledge of sin, because we have ceased from it. If the Children are born innocent, it means a couple of important things that undermine modern Christianity, even Catholicism.
- We aren't born totally depraved.
- The promises of God do not change. Jesus (God) is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow. His promises endure, God is not a man that He should lie.
Immediately after the fall, we see two children born of Adam and Eve - Abel and Cain. Eve celebrated the birth of the first-born son, Cain.
(Gen 4:1 NKJV) Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD."
She thought this was the fulfillment of prophecy;
(Gen 3:15 NKJV) And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
It also caused Satan to target the first born son, and tempt Him. Many theologians get this wrong, focusing on the blood of the lamb, which is a terrible way to approach this passage. Abel's sacrifice wasn't superior because it was a lamb, it's because he had an obedient faith to the Lord.
(Heb 11:4 NKJV) By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
It was a more excellent sacrifice than Cain offered. Now I've seen and heard those in the easy-believism camp twist this tale, as well - but really contemplate this. Did Abel as a sheep herder, (Shepherd) just believe in God and God took care of His sheep for Him? Could Abel have just said the sinners prayer, and God would have raised that sheep, and brought it forth to the alter for Abel?
That's not how faith works!
Cain's sacrifice wasn't rejected because of what it was, it was rejected because of Cain's heart.
Gen 4:5-7 NKJV) but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? "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." Cain's heart was toward sin, he had no interest in turning from it. God told Cain here, that AFTER THE FALL that Cain could rule over it. What do we see next?
(Gen 4:8 NKJV) Now 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 killed him.
Scripture tells us murder begins in the heart.
(1Jo 3:15 NKJV) Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
Cain, was the first man to receive the mark of the beast.
(Gen 4:15 NKJV) And the LORD said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
After He was sealed with that mark, He had no more repentance. Now, this is for an example for us - it doesn't mean (I believe) that someone under the gospel that is the mark right now is sealed, but that day is coming. How can I connect the acts of Cain to the gospel of Eternal Security, Calvinism and Faith Alone? What do they all preach, besides this fallen nature that I already disproved? That no longer how you live, you are saved by a mental assent in Jesus as Savior.
I've covered in the past what faith, grace and the works that don't save are. I'm not going to repeat myself here, but suffice to say - we are saved unto good works, and that fruit is necessary to receive eternal life. This doesn't mean you merit eternal life, and it's entirely foolish to believe that. Scripture tells us clearly in Genesis 2 as I've shown above that one sin was enough to keep Adam out of the Kingdom of God. We then see the same thing in Genesis 4, through Cain. One sin - murder was enough to keep Cain out of the Kingdom of God.
These things were recorded as I said, as examples for us, because we have a greater light than Cain did. We not only know the eternal consequences of sin, we also have the light of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit to help us avoid sin.
Let's first start with what the mark of the beast is.
(Rev 13:16-18 NKJV) He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number [is] 666.
It's received on their hand or on their forehead. The same place we who are saved receive the mark of God. The law is written on our heart, and we meditate on it daily. We then must become doers of the word, showing that the law is also written on our hands. The prophecy is also corporate when compared to Daniel and Ezekiel, this is clear. The "beast" is a nation and that nation is of Cain, Esau, and Ishmael. The men who chose their sins over service to God.
We are being built up into a spiritual nation (Romans 9:6, Galatians 3:6) to avoid taking the mark, what then must we do?
Not believe or practice the lie gospel.
(Jde 1:4 NKJV) For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
This has several important connections; it's ungodly men, who turn the grace of God into a license to sin - saying that no matter how we live, by faith alone, from the foundation of the world, you were made elect unconditionally or you could confess Jesus today, live like the Devil the rest of your life and still get in to Heaven.
These ungodly men DENY the Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Recall what Jesus states and warns about denying Him?
(Mat 10:33 NKJV) "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
It's denial of Him that leads to being denied to the Father. But like all things, this is not just mental assent. It's our deeds that matter to God!
(Rom 2:6-7 NKJV) who "will render to each one according to his deeds": eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
(Tit 1:16 NKJV) They profess to know God, but in works they deny [Him], being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.
If we by our deeds deny God, just as with Cain - we will have taken up the mark. Just as with Esau, we will have traded His holy promises for a profane bowl of soup, and we may find when we seek true repentance, it's too late.
(Heb 12:15-17 NKJV) looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there [be] any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
What would make it too late to receive repentance?
The mark of Cain or the Beast.
Let's continue through Jude (which is also repeated by Peter in 2 Peter 2)
(Jde 1:10-11 NKJV) But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
(2Pe 2:12-15 NKJV) But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, [and] will receive the wages of unrighteousness, [as] those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. [They are] spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, [and are] accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the [son] of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
This is a rich and meaty passage of the word. They are like natural beasts - they aren't the image of God any longer, they are the image of the beast - Jude compares this person to Cain, they went the way of Cain. What did Cain receive? The mark of lawlessness, the mark of the beast. They go greedilyafter the way of Balaam for unrighteousness and cannot cease from sin!
They have a HEART trained in covetousness! Most importantly to those under this false Jesus who never turns you away no matter HOW you live under His blood!!
They have FORSAKEN the right way. They WERE SAVED and FORSAKE IT!
Cain by Adam, was a son of God, but because of His sin, he became marked out for condemnation as a son of the Devil!
(As a quick sidenote, there is a wicked doctrine that states that Cain was born a son of the Devil. This is a dangerous teaching. He was born a child of God, and by his choice to serve the wicked desires of his heart, became a son of the Devil.)
(1Jo 3:8-12 NKJV) He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor [is] he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain [who] was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous.
All of scripture is God breathed, and I hope this study really proves that point. God will not spare you if you turn from the way of righteousness, back to the pit you were saved from. You have forsaken the way of truth, the way of righteousness, the way of life, for the way of death, lawlessness and corruption.
You are under the mark of the beast.
But, if you are reading this it means that God still is granting you mercy, and you may still repent. We are not locked in yet, and won't be until the Day of the Lord or you die. Never forsake God's mercy in that. There is always a chance before He returns and before you die to repent.
(Jas 5:19-20 NKJV) Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
Even if you are in the sin leading to death, under the mark of the beast, i would not count you out.
(1Jo 5:16 NKJV) If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin [which does] not [lead] to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not [leading] to death. There is sin [leading] to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.
What is the sin leading to death? Accepting the mark of the beast, that you can sin and still get in to heaven. The man in Corinth believed that as well as He was sleeping with His mother in law.
(1Co 5:1-5 NKJV) It is actually reported [that there is] sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles--that a man has his father's wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Paul tells us the same thing we see in John's epistle. DO NOT PRAY FOR THEM. They are under the delusion, and need to be handed over to Satan to reach the full depravity of the sins they are in. THEN there MAY be a chance for another repentance, as we see with the prodigal son, who RETURNED to the pit from whence He was saved and washed Himself again.
(Luk 15:24 NKJV) 'for this my son was dead and is ALIVE AGAIN; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry.
We are only ALIVE after being born again. Note also the Prodigal Son was with the Father, IN HIS HANDS and chose of his own free will to LEAVE the Father and return to His sins, to be engulfed by them.
This passage is showing us the true mercy and long-suffering of God. But as I said, we should not abuse the mercy of God. Jesus was serious about, "go and sin no more"
(1Co 15:34 NKJV) Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak [this] to your shame.
I also want to speak a word of caution as Satan will try to stumble many on the path to completion in Christ:
(2Co 7:1 NKJV) Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
(Jas 1:21 NKJV) Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
With legalism - that we achieve this holiness through MAN MADE rules. They restrict ALL second marriages, but are okay with eating the abomination and defiling His sabbath days. They have completely missed the grace and love of God that enables us to live holy and free of sin. (and all sin is lawlessness, it means you are continuing to violate God's Torah.)
God is not going to cast you out for a sin, we wouldn't see a passage like James 5:19-20, and 1 Jo 5:16-17 if that was the case.
At the same time, you'll never achieve true holiness if you are striving to do so through MAN MADE DOCTRINES and much of the Holiness movement is bound up in artificial rule keeping, checking off a checklist of what you have and haven't done today. That's not love. That's TRUE Pharisaical legalism, and is still bondage. Yah writes His law to your heart and mind, and that is why we do not break His law. We fulfill the law out of faith, because of love. (rom 3:31)
True freedom exists in the blood from sin, from the CONDEMNATION of the law, and then from the second death.
But we must strive for it in a real repentance, through godly sorrow. Don't let the sorrow of the world steal the true joy of Yah!