In order to build the point of this post it will require that I take you into that book a fair bit, so bear with me. Because the Temple endowment plays the Adam and Eve story we tend to tune it out over time. But it's all there - it's THE story!
In the book it says: "Adam and Eve went in search of the garden...Then Adam said to God, "I dry up in the heat, I am faint from walking, and I don't want to be in this world. And I don't know when You will let me rest and take me out of it.""
Then it says, "Satan, the hater of all that is good, saw how they continued in prayer, and how God communed with them, and comforted them, and how He had accepted their offering. Then Satan made a phantasm.
Then it says, "Satan, the hater of all that is good, saw how they continued in prayer, and how God communed with them, and comforted them, and how He had accepted their offering. Then Satan made a phantasm.
He began by transforming his hosts. In his hands was a shining, glimmering fire, and they were in a huge light. Then he placed his throne near the mouth of the cave (where Adam and Eve lived), because he could not enter it due to their prayers......Satan did this so that when Adam saw the light he would think to himself that it was a heavenly light and that Satan's hosts were angels and that God had sent them to watch at the cave and give him light in the darkness.....When therefore, Adam and Eve saw the light, thinking it was real, they strengthened their hearts. Then, as they were trembling, Adam said to Eve: "Look at that great light, and at those many songs of praise, and at those host standing outside who won't come into our cave. Why don't they tell us what they want or where they are from or what the meaning of this light is or what those praises are or why they have been sent to this place, and why they won't come in? If they were from God, they would come into the cave with us and would tell us why they were sent." Then Adam stood up and prayed to God with a burning heart and said: "Oh Lord, is there in the world another god besides You who created angels and filled them with light and sent them to keep us, who would come with them? But look, we see these hosts that stand at the mouth of the cave. They are in a great light and they sing loud praises. If they are of some other god(s) than You, tell me, and if they are sent by you, inform me of the reason for which you have sent them." (SUPER cool that Adam asked God to interpret things for him..amazing. AMAZING response. But in the book we see that he doesn't always ask God to interpret for him and then he falls into deception again and again. Learn from Adam - ask for the Lord to interpret things for you. And then WAIT. So often we don't wait upon the Lord.)
Then God sent an Angel to answer Adam's prayer and the Angel said, "Oh Adam, fear not. This is Satan and his hosts. He wishes to deceive you as he deceived you at first. For the first time, he was hidden in the serpent, but this time he is come to you in the likeness of an angel of light in order that, when you worshipped him, he might enslave you in the very presence of God."
Then the Angel goes and exposes Satan to Adam and Eve. "And the angel said to Adam, "This hideous form has been his ever since God made him fall from heaven. He could not have come near you in it. Therefore, he transformed himself into an angel of light." Then the angel drove Satan and his hosts away from Adam and Eve and said to them, "Fear not. God who created you will strengthen you." And the angel left them but Adam and Eve remained in the cave and no consolation came to them as they were divided in their thoughts. (important!!! The Angel told them to not fear. Fear invites in the adversary. "Fear" is Faith in Satan. "Trust" is Faith in God! It says that Adam and Eve remained "in the cave" which is symbolic of not ascending in prayer...and because they didn't continue in prayer - "no consolation came to them" and they were "divided in their thoughts" - Satan works through division. That is why God wants us to be of one heart and one mind. PRAY.)
And when it was morning they prayed and then went out to seek the garden, for their hearts were seeking it, and they could get no consolation for having left it. But when the crafty Satan saw that they were going to the garden he gathered together his host and came in appearance on a cloud, intent on deceiving them. But when Adam and Eve saw him in a vision, they thought they were angels of God come to comfort them about having left the garden, or to bring them back again into it. And Adam spread his hands before God, begged Him to make him understand what they were. Then Satan, the hater of all good, said to Adam, "O Adam, I am an angel of the great God; and, behold the hosts that surround me. God has sent us to take you and bring you to the border of the garden northwards; to the shore of the clear sea, and bathe you and Eve in it, and raise you to your former gladness, that you return again to the garden. (Satan could see what their hearts were set upon and that they had no consolation. Now he knows exactly what to target. He was offering them a baptism...that is interesting. It would have been a dark baptism had it gone to completion).
"These words sank into *the heart* of Adam and Eve. Yet God withheld His Word from Adam, and did not make him understand at once, but waited to see his strength; whether he would be overcome as Eve was when in the garden, or whether he would prevail. Then Satan called to Adam and Eve, and said, "Behold, we go to the sea of water," and they began to go. And Adam and Eve followed them at some little distance. But when they came to the mountain to the north of the garden, a very high mountain, without any steps to the top of it, the Devil drew near to Adam and Eve, and made them go up to the top in reality, and not in a vision; wishing, as he did, to throw them down and kill them, and to wipe off their name from the earth; so that this earth should remain to him and his hosts alone." (God withholds His word from us from time to time - to test our strength. This is a good thing. By this point the Lord had already taught Adam and Eve everything they needed to know to overcome Satan in this moment so now it was important to let things play out so Adam can learn).
[Then God has to intervene because Satan is going to kill them and so God curses Satan and Adam and Eve are left atop the mountain seeing clearly and they plead for forgiveness.]
"Then the Word of God came to Adam, and said to him, "You must know and understand concerning this Satan, that he seeks to deceive you and your descendants after you."" (This is one reason why I write - to help bring understanding to the deception that will come to you and your descendants.)
[Then God has to intervene because Satan is going to kill them and so God curses Satan and Adam and Eve are left atop the mountain seeing clearly and they plead for forgiveness.]
"Then the Word of God came to Adam, and said to him, "You must know and understand concerning this Satan, that he seeks to deceive you and your descendants after you."" (This is one reason why I write - to help bring understanding to the deception that will come to you and your descendants.)
Here is what stood out to me in those passages I shared (and in the book overall). Adam had a big desire and it was to get back to the Garden - get back to comfort when things were in their fullness. It doesn't say he was longing to get back to the Lord and for their connection. Adam wanted the good life to return. In this book of Adam and Eve you watch Adam go on a journey to where he finally has to desire God above all else before he can find true comfort. And in this version of the Adam and Eve story - Satan deceives Adam and Eve SO many times. I love this painting of Micheleaneglo's, "The Creation of Adam" and the passivity of Adam's reach in comparison to God's outstretched arm. God is SO GOOD to us.
Why was Satan so successful in deceiving Adam and Eve and their posterity?
1. He continually changed tactics and appeared in many different forms. He never rested once.
2. He preyed upon the desires of their heart...and their desires weren't always the Lord so that made them easier to break down.
Whether we understand it or not - we are surrounded by a spirit world and the evil spirits have one aim - to lead you carefully down to hell (2 Nephi 28). And those spirits will direct their subtleties at your weaknesses in order that they may get you into bondage to them.
1. He continually changed tactics and appeared in many different forms. He never rested once.
2. He preyed upon the desires of their heart...and their desires weren't always the Lord so that made them easier to break down.
Whether we understand it or not - we are surrounded by a spirit world and the evil spirits have one aim - to lead you carefully down to hell (2 Nephi 28). And those spirits will direct their subtleties at your weaknesses in order that they may get you into bondage to them.
Weakness is not sin. We are told in Ether 12:
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.If you don't ask the Lord to help your weak things become strong, then you will suffer. Taking time to go to the Lord in prayer and asking Him to help you identify your weaknesses is a key component in the path to spiritual growth. Yes, there are the easy weaknesses to identify like a sharp tongue or gluttony or slothfulness. But the weaknesses I am suggesting you to seek out (with the Lord's help) are the ones that can lead you to spiritual decay, sickness, apathy, misdirection, distraction, and deception.
Our weaknesses often have a spirit attached to them. Some people call them, "agreements" that we have made. Here's an example of an unholy agreement. Let's say that you're a little child waiting to be picked up from school and all the other kids are getting picked up and one by one they leave until you are the only one left. Fear enters your mind and you hear, "They forgot to pick you up because you are unimportant and they don't care about you." Then, in that state of fear, you agree with that suggestion and then begins the first binding of the chord of agreement. A little while later you are overlooked or forgotten again and you hear, "You are unimportant," and you agree with that suggestion and another chord strengthens its grip on your heart and mind. These kinds of experiences go on and on throughout your life until you have a firm binding in the belief that you are "unimportant" (or fill in the blank on the dark agreement you have come into alignment with). Once the binding is strengthened then Satan has but to give a slight tug in a friendship where there was miscommunication or slight pull in a marriage where there was a blunder and you are no longer your current age but have reverted back to that unconscious little 6 year old waiting to be picked up and you are easy to control and manipulate.
So those agreements become 'weaknesses' and they need to be handed over to the Lord to make those weak things become strong so the bindings can be broken. This can only happen through communion with the Lord in prayer. Ask Him to teach you how to break those agreements. If not, people will come into your life and they can more easily deceive you because what they offer you appears to fill your longing for, "The Garden" and they will appear to have the very thing you are looking for.
Another important reason to identify your weaknesses are that if your heart is not set upon the Lord and His will then it opens the door for Satan or a Demon to answer your prayers. They can recite scripture to calm your fears. They can appear as light just at that moment you were longing for the garden. They can...and they will.
As you take this journey - check your heart. Is it an eye single to the Lord, or is your heart on Zion, or a prophet, or a group of people, or a future servant to come? Is it on financial security, "social" security, avoiding discomfort, the Temple, the church, etc.?
If there is one thing I am learning, these weaknesses throw us out of alignment with the Lord...yes...even when (and perhaps especially when) we are pouring our hearts out to God ("Oh God, hear the words of my mouth!!!!!!"). This misalignment then opens the door for another "being" to say, "I hear you, what is it you want?" And if you don't want the Lord and His Righteousness and His Kingdom....if you don't know the difference between the Lord and a dark "being", you will be deceived. I know first hand. I have had those experiences more than once. I write in the hopes that you won't have to suffer in the ways I have done because I was not properly aligned in my desire for the Lord.
When people are trying to identify counterfeit money they surprisingly don't study the counterfeit money because the designs are endless. So what do they study? They study the real money so that when something counterfeit appears - they spot it. They know, so intimately, the real money that it's easier to spot the deception.
Study the Real Thing. Seek only Him. In prayer, give the Lord your longing for 'the garden' and let Him take care of it. For many on this path they are chasing their second comforter or angels or visions or dreams or (fill in the blank). Satan WILL step in to answer the longing of your heart. Ask the Lord to help you replace that longing with seeking first His Kingdom and His Righteousness and it WILL be ADDED to you! (Matthew 6:33) Nothing is lost that we give to Him. A.W. Tozer said it well when he prayed:
When people are trying to identify counterfeit money they surprisingly don't study the counterfeit money because the designs are endless. So what do they study? They study the real money so that when something counterfeit appears - they spot it. They know, so intimately, the real money that it's easier to spot the deception.
Study the Real Thing. Seek only Him. In prayer, give the Lord your longing for 'the garden' and let Him take care of it. For many on this path they are chasing their second comforter or angels or visions or dreams or (fill in the blank). Satan WILL step in to answer the longing of your heart. Ask the Lord to help you replace that longing with seeking first His Kingdom and His Righteousness and it WILL be ADDED to you! (Matthew 6:33) Nothing is lost that we give to Him. A.W. Tozer said it well when he prayed:
Father, I want to know Thee, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival. Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Thyself wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
This song below is to honor my late friend who passed away this summer. Jesus' name was the most common word she uttered and she was one of the greatest women of my acquaintance. Heaven is roaring with thunder to have her back. She will do much good on the other side for the battle ahead. This was her favorite song and she was a lover of the Old Testament. Don't listen to this unless you have time to just soak it up. It is in Hebrew, English, and then Arabic. They have all converted to Jesus and the Muslim's voices are like their call to prayer but now it is used to glorify JESUS!! It brought tears to my eyes. The Muslims have the most to risk when they convert to Jesus. God bless ALL your children to awake and arise!!!!
You Are My All In All
by
One For Israel
Thank you for sharing!
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