Tuesday 25 February 2014

An examination of "THE PROPHECY OF GOOD AGAINST EVIL": Expose of Maestro Erano M Evangelista 2

Next we come to the subject of the creation account of Genesis, let's continue shall we?

"The Story of Creation

Maestro Evangelista explains: the people of the world believed the teaching of the religions regarding the story of Creation, that Adam was the first created being. Let us read about the true "Story of Creation" as it is written in the Holy Bible (not from the teaching of the religions) that God has given to Maestro to reveal to the people of the world:

"The days are coming" - it will happen in time, the merging of two peoples, 

"the House of Judah & House of Israel" - these are the people who have been given the promise or covenant by God; who are the "offspring of men and of animals," are they creatures of God different from humans?"

Like I said in the previous article, the animals are not made part of the people or the covenant, it simply refers to the repopulation of the land with men and animals and the two Kingdoms of Israel become one. The offspring of men and animals are not some subset of creatures.

"Maestro Evangelista will explain it plainly; he tells us that God did have two creations. It would mean that the traditionally and accepted doctrine of the story of creation by the religions is not true? 

   Maestro says let us read the story of Creation:
So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and 
moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, 
and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 
Genesis 1:21 (NIV)
   God created the animals before man, true.
God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number 
and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."
Genesis 1:22 (NIV)
   God only told them to multiply, there was no covenant given to them. 

   What day was it?
And there was evening, and there was morning - the fifth day.
Genesis 1:23 (NIV)
   What did God do next?"

No, there was one creation, The creation story has several things created but it's not harbouring two different creations. The contexts of both passages focus on certain details of the same creation account. This is something to expand upon later.

"The First Creation
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 
Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV)
"Let us make man in our image" - God created man - "male and female,” at the same time. In this context, "man" is to be understood in general - that is why it was written "male and female he created them" – of how many pairs were created, it was not mentioned. 

"God created man in his own image" – God is spirit, in what likeness are we created by Him? 

   But where was Adam? Maestro says Adam was not created yet.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; 
fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of 
the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." 
Genesis 1:28 (NIV)
"God blessed them” – them, more than one. 

"Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth" - They were only told to multiply, no covenant and no promise from God, same with the animals. 

"subdue it" - they were only reminded to subdue or to control the growth of their population, so that the land or the environment can sustain them."

Being created in God's image refers to us being rulers of the earth on God's behalf. Subduing the earth is not talking about controlling the population of animals or the human race, though there isn't anything wrong with keeping animals from going extinct and controlling their population and there is nothing wrong with keeping how many kids you have to a minimum, even if it is one kid. Subduing the earth refers to sowing and cultivation of the earth and using it as it should

"Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." - to rule, meaning only to use the animals for the advancement of human knowledge, not to eat them. The theory of flight, we got them from the birds; the design of ships and submarine, we got it from the fish, and also we have developed many new technologies that were copied, in a way, from animals, only better. Even vaccines, before we use them on humans, are first tested on animals. 

   It is clear that men and animals were created as a same class - "of men and of animals” - in the eyes of God; no covenant and no commandments given to them. 

   This was the sixth day. 


   And on the seventh day, did God continue to create others things? 


   And the religions will say that God did not create anymore. 


   Maestro Evangelista says, let us read more for us to be certain, remember Adam and Eve were not yet created.
"

Both the chapters need to be read in context. Firstly, Men and Animals are NOT in the same class, much like how humans and angels are not in the same class, nor are men Gods. In the context, the subject of eating them doesn't come up in Chapter 1 because the fall had not yet occurred and man was pure. The intended diet for man was seed, fruit and vegetable in the garden, but the consumption of meat was only allowed by God after the fall, specifically in Genesis 9 and onwards.

We do have a right to eat animals because God allows us. We are not to eat however blood or other humans and even though cannibalism is not directly addressed in scripture, it is nevertheless forbidden considering God speaks only of consuming animals and condemns the bloodshed of a man, considering he was made in the image of God. Cannibalism is indeed out of the question and not an option for any human for these reasons alone.

And it's not the religions that claim God didn't create any more, it's the Bible's teaching, something which Erano can't get into his skull.

"The Seventh Day of Creation

   At this time, the population of the people created during the sixth day was growing.
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; 
so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 
And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested 
from all the work of creating that he had done. 
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. 
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens - 
Genesis 2:1 -4 (NIV)
   On the seventh day God rested from the work he had done, the time of the first creation had ended. 

“God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done” - He was the first to observe His own decree. That is why when you break the Sabbath, curse. 

   Maestro Eraño M. Evangelista says, the Gentile people came from these "of men and animals." We are part of the "first creation." If we really came from Adam and Eve, why then are there Blacks, Whites, Asians, and other colored people? We are all created equally by God! 

   Thus the Story of Creation ended. Again, you will ask: Where was Adam? When was he created?

   Adam was not yet created by God; the time of creation has ended. So the animals and humans created on the fifth and sixth days are considered by God as his "first creation" - "of men and of animals.""

Regarding the issue of the Sabbath, I address this issue here: http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/observance-of-torah-demanded-of-gentiles.html

There is no evidence from the book of Genesis that from the time of Adam to the time of Joseph that Sabbath observance was commanded of the human race, It was a later commandment given to Moses on Mt Sinai.

I am not going to go into details about what colour Adam and Eve had, but the existence of Blacks, Whites, Asians and many diverse colours of the human race did not occur until the building of the Tower of Babel. I presume that the race colour developed after that evident, it doesn't give details in that regard, nor do we need to know. There is NO claim that one set of humans is superior over another, no Christian claims that.

If you want to see how Erano abuses Genesis 1 and 2, we shall definitely see how he does.

Creation Accounts
If one claims he is a prophet like Moses and yet has the exegesis that makes Ahmed Deedat or Zakir Naik absolute scholars, then something is seriously wrong here and we are going to see this throughout this next section.

One thing I will explain is that Genesis 1 and 2 speak on the same creation event, not two different events all together. They compliment one another and one has details that the other doesn't have, without further delay, let us carry on.

"The Second Creation

But God again made a special creation:
and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no 
plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not 
sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, 
Genesis 2:5 (NIV)
"on the earth" - the place somewhere in the Middle East, the desert, it describes the absence of tree and plants. Does this bareness pertain to the state of the whole world then? Maestro says no, because the plants were already created during the time of Creation. Is it true? 

   Let us read in:
Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:11-12 (NIV)
   God created the plants and the trees to be food for the animals. You will see God's great design, how will the animals survive if there were no plants for them to feed on? 

   When was that?
And there was evening, and there was morning - the third day.
Genesis 1:13 (NIV)
   If God created first the animals and men, without creating plants and seed bearing fruits for food, they will not live or survive. 

   Let us return to:
and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the 
field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth 
and there was no man to work the ground, 
Genesis 2:5 (NIV)
"on the earth" - the place in the Middle East, the desert. This bareness only describes the state of the land in the Middle East.

"no man to work the ground" - there is not yet an intelligent man to cultivate and plant the fields. The people of the first creation, though they are already multiplying, they were still food gatherers, they just pick the food they eat from the bushes and from the ground.

but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- 
Genesis 2:6 (NIV)
   God made water flow through the land to make it sustainable – irrigation and technology is being introduced and what happened next?
the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed 
into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 
Genesis 2:7 (NIV)
"formed the man from the dust of the ground" - You will notice that God is creating again, the 
creation of a man after the Seventh Day – the man was created alone, without a pair. He was a special creation of God, the second creation. 

What Chapter 1 speaks about in it's content is WHEN the human race was first created, Chapter 2 speaks on HOW he was created, it is the same event told but giving details in a given context. No question it may refer to a particular part of the earth where it has not rained, that is certainly not disputable.

Also, Look at Genesis 1 carefully:
"11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

27 So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so."

Man is included in ONE creation, not two. When Jews and Christians study the Bible, It is obviously referring to THE CREATION STORY, NOT THE CREATIONS STORY. There isn't a man who was not intelligent enough to cultivate, the context is simply speaking of what God allowed man to eat and what he would be able to cultivate and harvest from, namely a shrub or other plants. In Genesis 2, it is speaking of a particular field that hadn't had a man put there, because he had not been created as of yet. Yes I know Man was told to be fruitful an multiply but in Genesis 2, it tells us HOW he was put there to be fruitful and multiply to begin with.

"2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Adam and Eve

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man[c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

This section tells you what God did on the 6th day, and it is clear in the context that after he created man, that was the END of his creation, full stop.

   "How special was the "man?"
Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, 
in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 
Genesis 2:8 (NIV)
   This is the time the man was put in the Garden; the garden existed before the "man" - the second creation:
And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 
Genesis 2:9 (NIV)
"the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground" - this was another of God's special creations, what kind? 

"trees that were pleasing to the eye" - these are ornamental trees 

"good for food" - the fruit bearing trees. 

"tree of life" and "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" - meaning when the man was placed in the Garden he alone had some kind of knowledge and intelligence which sets him apart from the people of the "first creation." He can distinguish what is beneficial and what is not. 

Where again is he getting this nonsense of the "first creation people" and "second creation people" from? Oh wait, he is gaining it from his vain imagination, oh silly me. While you can speak of creations collectively as one creation, this wouldn't prove the point of Erano in the first place and it's simply a ridiculous assertion on his part. Other than that there isn't much to say. However I will post a video by Chris Gatreau (fivepointbaptist on YouTube) which may interest you guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2fJxpdS148

   How rich was the land prepared for that man?
A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 
Genesis 2:10-14 (NIV)
   Meaning, the garden was bountiful and full of resources.

"A river watering the garden flowed from Eden" - the garden have a system of canals, an irrigation system. 

"The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there" - that the Garden was abundant with natural resources. It is only intended for the man in the Garden.
The LORD God took the man and put him in 
the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 
Genesis 2:15 (NIV)
   The man was placed in the garden, and had been given all that he would need and to maintain it and cultivate it. 

Surprisingly, there is something good he has said here, A garden with plenty to use, plenty to touch, smell, taste and hear. No doubt very beautiful. However his next point is ridiculous.

   This is a different "creation" from the first 7 days. The religions never taught or even knew about these two creations in the Holy Bible. 

   Since the people of the world also do not know of this true teaching, they believed in the story of religions – that Adam and Eve were the first to be created by God. That is why there had been much confusion and misunderstandings among the religions and its believers due to the inadequate explanations given with regard to the Holy Bible. 

   But with the coming of Maestro Eraño M. Evangelista and the teaching he reveals in the Holy Bible, the people of the world can now test or verify the teachings of the religions - whether they are true or not. They only need to ask him regarding the true teaching of God in the Holy Bible. 

   If a teaching given by a preacher is not written in the Holy Bible, people should not believe it; especially if he says he had done research on the subject about God. It is blasphemy to God. How can you make a research about God? As if you are subjecting Him for evaluation and searching for background information! 

   Maestro Evangelista says, God reveals Himself to His servants, the Prophets; people should go and find the true prophet in our time and hear what he has to say about God and of His teaching. 

   Let us continue..."

Again, and I know I am repeating this point, they are not two creations. Adam and Eve WERE the first created by God in the Bible, Erano has NO EVIDENCE OTHERWISE, only claims of prophetic revelation as reliable as Ergun Caner's knowledge of Islam (Which is poor by the way and the man lies through his teeth to let you know). Also, Just because this guy claims to be a prophet, that doesn't mean he cannot be held to account by the Bible. The "Touch not God's anointed" abuse isn't going to work here.

Research is perfectly acceptable in religious studies, man has been given a mind and should use it to come to a knowledge of the truth. YHWH did not give man a brain, just so they could willingly leave their intellect, discernment and evaluation at the door. There is nothing wrong about researching God. Seek him and you will find him.

It is clear that when we actually exegete the Bible and look at the prophets and what they and the apostles have said, it is clear Erano's teaching crumbles, when one simply uses his mind, reads the context and let's the Spirit guide him through the scripture.

More arguments shall be addressed in another article.

Answering Judaism.

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