Etz Khayim’s Blog

The Foundation of L’Chaim lies in returning to Torah and understanding that all that God has for man is found in the beginning.

It is understanding the first three chapters concerning God, man and creation that we discover God’s intentions and purpose for man.

Throughout the creation narrative it was said, and it is good…

When man was created and creation was complete God made the Sabbath and declared it is very good!

Within two chapters of His-story God reveals to us that He made man in His image, in the image of Him made He them.  God created Adam (man,  blood, red) out of the dust of the earth, and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. From Gods very being He breathed into man a part of Himself! His spirit for God is a spirit!

God created air, water, sun, plants and animals prior to creating man. This was mans new home. Everything that man needed to bless him and sustain him including His relationship with His God, His father, His king was created just for him. This place earth and the special location where God would place Adam called Eden would be his new home.

God after giving Adam his first assignment naming all of Gods living creatures stated, ” it is not good that man should be alone.”  Adam soon discovered that there was no creature suitable for him as a companion.

God put Adam into a deep sleep and from his very rib he fashioned Eve a new creation: woman. A help meet and companion suitable for Adam.

It was here that God gave to them His instructions (Torah). These were His instructions to them for life. This was His owners manual that told them all that was needed to live life to its fullest.

Gen. 1:Ge. 1:26 ¶  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 ¶  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 ¶  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 2:1 ¶  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3  And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

“I have given every green herb for meat, and it was so” was the instructions given to Adam and Eve.  Meat, the English word translated from the original Hebrew, olah meaning food, meat and fuel!

Ge. 2:8 ¶  And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 15  And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 ¶  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:  17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

God expands His definition of “food” olah, and reveals that there are other plants found in the garden. One of them He mentions in particular, “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil”. Of this tree you shall not eat of it for in the day you eat its fruit you shall surely die!

Why did  man die? Theologically we interpret the meaning to be because they disobeyed God! But the plain meaning of the text tells us it is because they ate from the tree its fruit. Was the tree poisonous?

Perhaps the tree was not designed or created for food, meat or fuel!!! After all the first thing we discover about God is that He is the Master creator of the universe. He is the Father of Engineering and Design. His world was initially created to be perfect but something happened. Man tried to use a different fuel to feed himself based on how the food looked, smelled, or made him feel! Man chose to make a decision other than heeding to the instructions given by the Almighty, the Creator of the Heaven and the Earth, his Father and King!

So began a slow death. They chose death instead of life! Along with death came tragedy and destruction. We are their offspring. We are their descendants. We have followed in their footsteps! Is it any wonder that as the people of God, we have degenerative diseases. No one wants to accept that they have ignored or even worst yet rejected Gods instructions. We don’t want to read the owners manual. We like to eat non-olah, non-foods that were not provided by the Master creator, Engineer and designer of humankind.  So just like an automobile that someone experiments with and tries to run the machine on water, honey, soda pop, or anything liquid the result is that the engine won’t start at all. Its parts begin to rust, corrode and degenerate.

Likewise our bodies are doing the same thing! Our arteries are clogged, our bodies rebel and grow tumors, our vital organs are filled with poisons that can not be digested!

What do we want? A silver bullet! One size fits all. We don’t like the effects of what our ignoring God’s instructions has brought upon us. So we seek man to give us a pill. The silver bullet! And on top of that we want to continue living just as we have always lived.

Why? Because we no longer serve the Creator God! We serve a new god – our bellies! We have replaced the need for fuel, what it takes to run our lives with, for what feels good, looks good and tastes good to our selves!

We have chosen death and curses instead of life and blessing and health.

Teshuvah -Repent – Return and be healed!

Follow along as we take a journey back to the Ancient paths, the old ways and discover life as it was meant to be!

Shalom