It is quite possible that Adam and Eve existed in Eden for centuries or millenniums as the rest of the world "evolved" around them.
Perhaps, dear P (peace to you!). There is another possibility that I will share in moment, though...
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I think I remember that Shelby once mused that perhaps God took the long garment of skin (this flesh with its blood) from some kind of flesh already in the world, and gave that to Adam and Eve.
I'm not sure I mused that, dear Tams (peace to you, as well!). I believe I mused that some THINK that, that Adham/Eve were given the skins of another kind of flesh (in fact, that is the foremost teaching, that JAH gave them animal skins!... but if that were the case then that other kind... animal... had to die FIRST... right... so that Adham/Eve could have IT'S flesh? Which, of course, could be the case, since by that time Adham HAD let Death in. But then, JAH would have had to kill the animal. Which, of course, would have been a "sacrifice"... but if THAT was so, then Adham/Eve's sin was "atoned" for. In which case, they would not have had to
die: the sin was cleansed. But that was not the case - they still died.
Even so... let's say an animal was killed to atone TEMPORARILY (as was the case with Israel) versus eternally (Christ being the sacrifical atonement for eternal death)... it wasn't the nakedness of their FLESH that was an issue. I mean, who cared?? What was EXPOSED was the nakedness of their HEARTS/SPIRITS:
Job 10:11; 40:10
Psalm 30:11; 35:26; 73:6; 104:1; 109:29; 132:9, 16, 18
Isaiah 47:3; 52:1; 61:10
Nahum 3:5
Habbakkuk 2:16
Matthew 17:2
Luke 24:49
Acts 10:30
Romans 13:14
1 Corinthians 15:53, 54
2 Corinthians 5:2-4
Galatians 3:27
1 Peter 5:5
Revelation 3:4,5, 17, 18; 12:1; 16:15 (Look 'em ALL up - I think you'll find what they say quite interesting.)
My understanding, though, is that Adham was taken from the dust OUTSIDE the garden - hence, he had flesh like ours ("From the dust you are and to dust you will return") - BUT... when JAH blew HIS life/breath/blood INTO the (vessel that was) Adham, that vessel was CHANGED. Was given a "white robe" or SPIRIT body (like WE will be -
1 Corinthians 15:51, 52)... so that it could be PUT inside the garden (which is part of the SPIRIT realm - hence, the cherubs blocking entry -
Genesis 3:24; Ezekiel 10:19; 11:1; 42:15; 43:1-4; 41:1; Ezekiel 46:1; Revelation 21:12). Remember, Adham's MOTHER was "Hagar/Earth" so he HAD to have a PHYSICAL body (first). As Christ did, when he came through Mary - THAT is what made him and Adham EQUAL.
And, LIKE Christ, Adham could put OFF that "robe" and go OUT, too -
whenever he chose. He just had to go
through Christ... the "Door"... when he wanted to get back IN. Because that is what/who would give him the "WHITE robe" so that he COULD go back IN.
John 10:9Quote:
He asked me how much time passed between when Adam and Eve ate, to when Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden?
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I am sure that the "time" was not as we measure it today, so it could have been a great deal of time, by our (current) standards.
What, though... and this is what I was eluding to above, with dear P... if time has actually SPEEDED UP? Not in terms of second, minutes, etc., but as in how we fast-forward a movie? What if... after the initial coming forth of the light (big bang?)... the time CHANGES... with the trajectory of the expanding universe? What if, say, the first "qua-billion" years of the universe's AGING... actually took place in a much shorter time period?
What I mean is, let's say we find a tree that, for all intents and purposes... and carbon dating... APPEARS to be, say, 100k years old... but in TRUTH is only 1/10th of that time old? What if the speed at which the universe is "expanding" times the speed at which our galaxy is moving... times the speed at which our solar system is moving... times the speed at which our plant revolves (daily and around the sun)... AGES things? Such that something that lived, say, 100,000 years (by OUR "dating" methods) was ACTUALLY only in existence for, say, 1,000 years? And something that lived, say, 5,000 years (by our "dating" methods), actually only lived, say, 500 years?
We really only measure time as it relates, first, to this planet. But that's because it's all we are truly familiar with. What, though, if there is a time that exceeds this plant, this solar system, this galaxy... this universe... if MEASURED pursuant to the time constraints of this world, would show that while our planet APPEARS to be 4.80 gazillion years old... it's actually a mere fraction of that?
A kind of universal "progeria"?
Something to consider. S'all I'm sayin'.
Gotta get back to work.
Peace to you all!
YSSFS of Christ,
Shel