This thread will be dedicated to the aspect of the Bible's revelation that God is small. Many of us know that God is great. But there is a truth in the Bible that God is small enough to eat.
What you eat must be smaller than yourself. And from Genesis to Revelation, many times, God portrays Himself as food to be eaten. The truth conveyed in God presented as food is that He may be great but He became small enough for man to receive Him into themselves as food.
The tree of life is seen both in the beginning of the Bible and at the end. This symbol is of the God who is small enough to be taken INTO man. He is the real food to be eaten.
" ... Out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." (Gen. 2:9)
The lives created in Genesis go ascend up level by level until you have man created in the image of God.
Above that the most important thing is the tree of life which signifies God Himself. And the picture is that God is good for food. Just be reading Genesis we might not ascertain this. But at the end of the Bible the tree of life is there also. Compare Genesis 2:9 and Revelation 22:2,14.
In between these to pictures of the tree of life as food for man, are the many, many negtive stories of the distractions. Satan is ever trying to frustrate man from taking in God as "food". So man is hindered, distracted, and frustrated throughout the human history from taking God into him as the divine food.
At the end God in Christ as the fruit of the tree of life prevails against all the distractions. God is good for food. The Almighty God presents Himself as food small enough for man to take into himself.
We have had posters say God is a big tyrant. But would you ever accuse a sandwich on a plate to be a tyrant ?
Would you accuse a plum or an apple of being a BIG TYRANT ?
God presented Himself to man signified by the tree of life - FOOD for nourishment, for sustenance, for enjoyment.
Nutritionists like to say "You are what you eat". The initial picture of the Great Creator God is that after creating all things and all the levels of life, He portrays Himself to man as FOOD in "the tree of life" .
What were the instructions God gave to Adam ? Not much was given in the way of instructions. For the most part God told Adam to be careful what he ATE.
That is Adam should be careful what he took into himself to be part of his organic constitution. God did not instruct Adam how to prostrate himself in worship, how to praise and sing hymns, or how to bow or even pray. He instructed Adam to be careful for what he ATE.
The tree of life was CENTRAL to the paradise God made for man. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden. In the midst of Adam's world was God as food.
The God of all creation spent little time, maybe no time, telling Adam not to steal, not to cheat on his wife, not to murder, and not to gamble. He only told Adam to be careful about what he ATE - what he took INTO himself.
God presents Himself initially to man as One to be EATEN. This means to be taken INTO one's being. God wanted to dispense Himself into man.
Originally posted by jaywillIt is my understanding that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
We have had posters say God is a big tyrant. But would you ever accuse a sandwich on a plate to be a tyrant ?
Would you accuse a plum or an apple of being a BIG TYRANT ?
God presented Himself to man signified by the [b]tree of life - FOOD for nourishment, for sustenance, for enjoyment.
Nutritionists like to say "You are what you eat". The e EATEN. This means to be taken INTO one's being. God wanted to dispense Himself into man.[/b]
was in the middle of the Garden of Eden.
Originally posted by VoidSpiritYou are so right . The Bible paints a picture that is hard to swallow, and yet it is passed off as something wonderful, and we must surrender to the insanity or burn in Hell. It hard to imagine how Christianity ever got off the ground to begin with .
ah yes. the ancient pagan custom of theophagy. you do realize that it's ritual symbolism right? i hope you don't believe god is being physically cannibalized!
your connection of this custom to the concept of biblegod's tyranny is nonsensical.
Originally posted by RJHindsThere were two trees mentioned. My focus here will hopefully be on the Positive tree - the tree of life which represents God to be dispensed into man for a union of the Divine with the human.
It is my understanding that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
was in the middle of the Garden of Eden.
"And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden ..."
Focus on the words - "the tree of life in the middle of the garden".
The word of God first mentions the tree of life in the middle of the garden. When we are clear concerning this we can go on to see what else it says.
" ... the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."
The OTHER tree is mentioned. It is a poison tree. It brings man into bondage to Satan. My focus here is on "the tree of life in the middle of the garden."
Now, one may point out that the woman said to the serpent "But of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has saod, You shall not eat of ut, nor shall you touch it, lest you die." (Gen 3:3)
You have some ground to say that at least Eve refered to this Satanic tree of the knowledge of good and evil as being, in her view, in the middle of the garden.
But I believe that the created man was placed before the tree of life as the choice which God desired for man as His perfect will.
We see the tree of life mentioned in connection with the paradise of God in Revelation 1:7 -
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God."
God's life is central to God's eternal purpose. That God would dispense His life into man for a union of man with God is central to the eternal purpose of God. So I emphasize the tree of life in the middle of the garden, though I admit the other tree is mentioned.
There should be no problem realizing the centrality of this tree of life in the final consumation of God's will, the New Jerusalem:
"Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the tree of life and man enter by the gates into the city." (Rev. 22:14)
Redemption is to recover man's right to take into himself God Himself as the Divine Life.
We have in addition to the tree of life the manna that came down from heaven. This is the bread that the Israelites ate in the wilderness for 40 years.
The people longed for the leeks and garlic of Egypt. But God fed them no longer with the Egyptian food. He fed them with the "WHAT IS IT" of manna.
We know from John 6 that Christ said that He was the reality of this bread from heaven.
"Jesus therefore said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread out of heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.
... Jesus said to them, I am the bread oif life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst. (John 6:32,44,35)
I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die.
I am the living bread which came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever." (vs. 48-51).
God in Christ again presents Himself in terms of that which is to be EATEN. This not only means man has a deep inner hunger. It means the only thing that can satisfy and meet this inner hunger is Christ. It is God in Christ as "the living bread" . It is God who is small enough to EAT.
If you open wide your heart, with a WILLINGNESS to be changed by God, and read the whole 6th chapter of John, you may EAT Christ. You may EAT Christ by allowing His words to enter into your heart and into your innermost spirit.
This manna from heaven, this living bread, this bread of life and this tree of life all point to God dispensing Himself as "food" into man to constitute man with His own divine element.
I have tried to write a little about God presenting Himself to man as food. The tree of life signifying God as the One Who intends to ENTER into man and constitute man's whole being with His divine nature.
Now it is helpful to see that man was created for this because man was created in the image of God.
"And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, acccording to Our likeness ..." ( See Genesis 1:26)
It is helpful to see man made in the image of God as similar to a glove being made in the image of a hand. Why is a glove made in the image of a human hand ? It is that the human hand may FIT comfortably into the glove. Then when the hand moves and acts, the glove moves and acts along the same way. The glove expresses then the life of the hand. The glove is made with its perculiar shape that the hand may fit into it.
Man was made by God in such a way that God can FIT comfortably into man just as the hand fits into the glove.
Now we can see that the EATING of God, or the receiving of God is receiving the CONTENT into the VESSEL.
The New Testament reminds the Christians that they are a VESSEL with a treasure of divine life in Christ within them:
Paul the apostle says of he and his co-workers, and concerning ALL followers of Jesus - "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us." (2 Cor. 4:7)
Who is the earthen vessel? The Christians are the earthen vessels. Specifically here Paul and his co-workers are the earthen vessels. Who is the treasure within the earthen vessels? It is Jesus Christ Himself in a form in which He can be dispensed INTO man. Or as I have said, that He may be "EATEN" as food to enter into man.
Whether we speak of the treasure in earthen vessels or the tree of life as food, the concept is similar. Man is made to receive God Himself into him.
From the very beginning of the creation of man, man was made in a "God shaped" manner, if you will, for the purpose that God may dispense Himself into man.
Originally posted by jaywillA cow is bigger than I am. Doesn't stop me from eating it.
This thread will be dedicated to the aspect of the Bible's revelation that God is [b]small. Many of us know that God is great. But there is a truth in the Bible that God is small enough to eat.
What you eat must be smaller than yourself. And from Genesis to Revelation, many times, God portrays Himself as food to be eaten. The truth conv ...[text shortened]... symbol is of the God who is small enough to be taken INTO man. He is the real food to be eaten.[/b]
Originally posted by rwingett
A cow is bigger than I am. Doesn't stop me from eating it.
A cow is bigger than I am. Doesn't stop me from eating it.
That is a point. But the in order for you to eat the cow he must be processed in some way. That process includes death, cooking, and most importantly cutting into sizes which can be handled. Eventually the size of the meat can fit into your mouth. Now the usefulness of this analogy is that God has gone through a process also.
His incarnation as a man, was a step in that process.
His living a human life for at least 33 years was a step in that process.
His going to the cross to die a redemptive death was a step in that process.
His rising again was a step in that process.
His becoming "a life giving Spirit" was another step in that process.
His ascending again to the highest heavens was a step in that process.
His pouring out the Holy Spirit was a final step in that process.
We should think of these steps as the cooking of God that He might become our feast. These steps the Triune God passed through in order to be able to get into man in "bite size" pieces as our eternal life.
It is significant that Jesus refered to Himself as "the bread of life" because bread must go through a preparation and process.
The bottom line is that what is available to man is not the "raw" God today but the "cooked" God, the processed God. In passing through these steps the Triune God prepared Himself to be dispensed into man as "food".
Recipe for a devine God stew.
Ingredients:
A slice of God, about 3 pounds, the most tender part, cut up
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped celery
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon salt
dash pepper
1 bay leaf
4 cups water
4 cups dry red wine
2 cups diced carrots
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
4 ounces sliced mushrooms, sauteed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup water
How to prepare:
Dredge the God pieces with 1/2 cup flour. Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat; brown God pieces on all sides. Add celery, onion, salt, pepper, bay leaf, 4 cups water, and wine; bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and simmer God stew for 2 hours. Add carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms; cook for about 25 to 30 minutes longer, or until vegetables are tender. Combine 1/4 cup flour and 1/3 cup water; stir until well blended and smooth. Stir flour mixture into the broth; cook and stir until thickened.
This God stew recipe serves 4. Enjoyed with a nice Tuscany red wine.
