The Garden Ruined

Well, we're turning back to the chapter that we read in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

! I'm not going to spend much time by way of introduction because we covered all of it last night.

Remember that I said to you there were four things I wanted to think about.

One was the uniqueness of the nature of humankind, and then the work that God had given him to do,

and then the companion that God had created specifically for him.

But you remember the last one was the choice that man faced, the first man faced.

And that's what I want to explore with us this evening, the choice that the man faced.

I want to do that by just thinking about three things.

One of them, the first one, is the specific arrangement that God came to with Adam.

The specific arrangement that related to, focused on, the trees he was allowed to eat and the tree that he wasn't allowed to eat.

And then secondly, I want us to think about the process.

That's what this chapter is all about, at least in the first part of it.

The process through which sin entered into the world.

I want us to think about the conversation that took place between Eve and the serpent.

And then I want us to think lastly of the fall itself.

That moment when Eve and Adam, they took the forbidden fruit, and they immediately, everything changed.

Everything changed.

The whole atmosphere changed suddenly from one of perfection to one of destruction and shame and darkness.

And I want us to look at the consequences of God's wrath and his mercy.

So I think there's enough there to be getting on with for the next half an hour or so.

First of all, I want us to think about the arrangement, the specific arrangement that God came to with Adam.

Now, we're not told the half, of course, of what Adam was shown, the kind of conversations that must have taken place between Adam and God.

There must have been loads and loads of words exchanged between the two of them.

But the Bible wants us to focus on a very narrow area of interest.

And the reason for that is because this is where the test of man lay.

This is where it was going to be determined whether or not the man who was made in the image of God

was going to live up to that image perfectly and indestructibly.

And so the focus of the chapter is on what they ate, the trees in the garden,

and what God was prepared to permit them to eat,

but also what he forbade, the prohibition that God imposed on the man.

And we're given this in very, very clear terms, and specific reference is made to it.

God says, first of all, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden,

but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,

for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

Now, if you think about it, just think about that one verse.

It's formulated in a particular way.

And theologians down the centuries have identified such a formulation as a covenant.

A covenant.

And so when it came to the writing of the subordinate standard

that our church adheres to the Westminster Confession of Faith,

they identify that specific covenant as,

you should know this,

the covenant of works.

The covenant of works.

And just as an aside,

it's probably best,

it's probably valuable to just spend one or two minutes

just identifying what a covenant was in the first place.

A covenant was a promised bond.

A promised bond.

I suppose that's probably the best way of describing it.

And it very often takes place in human terms

between two kings,

two countries that are at war with one another.

When one country,

when it becomes clear that

one country is going to dominate and win the war,

to the extent where the other king decides,

I'm going to surrender,

they come together and they talk terms of peace.

And in the old days,

way back in Old Testament times,

those terms of peace would be called a covenant.

The two kings would come together,

two governments,

and they would come to a deal,

if you like,

in which the winner or the suzerain

would say to the loser,

the vassal,

here are my terms of peace.

Here is what I'm going to promise you

by way of security for the future.

And here is what I'm going to demand of you

as our vassal.

And so that made for a resolution of the conflict.

And it made for a secure future,

both for the winner king and the loser king.

And it meant that,

hopefully,

if the terms of peace were good,

which they often were,

that both countries would be able

not only to live in peace,

but actually to improve relations with one another.

That's how it worked

in Old Testament times.

And it wasn't just an agreement.

It wasn't just a loose agreement.

It was a very solemn set of...

They often went through a very solemn ceremony

in which blood was...

The blood of an animal was spilled.

And indeed,

when you come on to Abrahamic times,

an animal was cut in half.

And there was a ceremony

in which the two kings would go through the...

walk down the aisle,

if you like,

together.

And they were saying,

if either one of us breaks this covenant,

let us be like this animal

that has been cut in half.

That was the solemnity of the covenant.

And a fascinating,

fascinating theme.

Not least because the idea of covenant

is rooted in God.

That's how God operates.

By way of a formal promise bond

in which he comes to his people

and he says,

I am the Lord.

You are my people.

Here is what I am promising you.

And here is what I am expecting of you.

Now, if you put it like that,

go through the Old Testament

and you'll find that that occurs

on several different occasions.

And the first of them is this one.

I'm tempted to go through this

in greater detail,

but I'm going to say this rather cheekily,

that if you want to explore this

in more detail,

sign up for the ETS Saturday course

two weeks from today.

And we will be exploring this

in great detail

all the way through the Bible.

I hope you'll forgive me for a plug.

But it's all to do

with what we're doing

and the kind of work that I do.

Not just for students,

but for the whole church.

The first of these covenants

is found right here.

Now, there's some people who say,

well, there's no mention of a covenant.

It doesn't tell us

in other places in the Bible.

There's clear mention

that this is a covenant,

but not here.

But when it bears

all the hallmarks of a covenant,

then I think we can safely assume

with good reason

that the covenant exists.

And here it is again.

Let me just read it to you once again.

The Lord God

commanded the man saying,

you may eat.

Here's the provision

that I'm making for you.

Here's the promise

that I'm making for you.

You may surely eat

of every tree of the garden,

but of the tree

of the knowledge

of good and evil,

you shall not eat.

There's the prohibition.

There's the terms of peace.

The terms of agreement

between the two of us.

That's how God operates.

And then he says,

for in the day

that you shall eat of it,

you shall surely die.

Very often a covenant

contained not only a prohibition,

but it contained the consequences

of breaking the covenant.

We have all the hallmarks

of this promise bond.

And that forms the basis

of our understanding

of the arrangement

between God and Adam.

One of the objections

that I've often heard

to Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

is this.

And I've often heard this.

Skeptics who come to you

and say,

well, you know,

do you honestly mean,

do you honestly mean us

to believe

that all of the world's problems,

all of the world's difficulties,

all of the violence

and the mistrust

and the betrayals

and everything happened

just because

someone ate an apple?

Now, if you put it like that,

then it does sound

on the surface

a bit ridiculous,

doesn't it?

I can understand

when somebody comes

and they say that.

And what I would say

to that person is,

you haven't really understood

Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

or Genesis chapter 2.

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

You've taken

a very superficial view

of what,

and that's the reason,

that's part of the reason

I wanted to cover this

this evening

because I think people

do take,

for one thing,

all the focus

is on the forbidden fruit,

isn't it?

And when we,

when we simply think

about the tree of knowledge

of good and evil

and that's all we think about,

then we lose sight

of the big picture

of Genesis 2 and 3.

There's more to it than that

and I think it's worth exploring

the bigger picture

that is happening.

The fact is

that Adam was given

a choice

of one path

or another.

The tragedy is that

we pay all our attention

on the tree of knowledge

of good and evil

and we forget

that there was actually

another tree

in the middle of the garden.

You find it

in verse 9

in chapter 2.

The tree of life

was in the midst

of the garden

along with

the tree of knowledge

and good and evil.

We often think of

the tree of knowledge

of evil

as standing on its own

but that's not so.

There were two trees

in the middle of the garden.

The tree of life

and the tree of knowledge.

Now let that form

the basis

for your understanding.

There was the two trees

and here's God

in this covenant

and he says to the man,

the first thing

he says is

you may surely eat

of every tree

of the garden.

Now you put two

and two together

and what does that equal?

If Adam had

made use

of the provision

that God,

the invitation

that God had given him

to eat of any tree

of the garden,

every tree of the garden,

then,

you know what the answer,

he would eventually

have eaten

of the tree of life

because the tree of life

was one of the rest

of the trees.

It's bound to have happened.

So God's,

God's intention was,

God's provision was,

his invitation was,

that in the course

of obedience,

if Adam had chosen

to obey

and just eat

of the marvelous fruit

that God had given him,

he would have eventually

eaten the tree of life

and by so doing,

he would have lived forever.

And you might ask,

well,

why was this?

Well,

I'll tell you why.

Because man

is given

free will.

He's made in the image

of God.

He knows the difference

between,

he knows right,

but he's given this command

as a test.

It has,

it has to be tested

because if he's given

the ability

to choose

and to opt

for one

or the other,

then the way

to determine

which way he's going

to go

is to test him.

And so this was

the test.

But if he had

chosen to obey,

if he had chosen

plan A,

if you like,

then it would have

been a very different

outcome,

not only for him

and Eve,

but for the rest

of humanity,

I believe.

If you want to think

about it like this,

each tree

is a door.

You have door one,

which is

the tree of life.

You have door two,

the tree of knowledge

of good and evil.

Now,

if you think about it

that way,

I think it adds

a little bit of clarity

to the situation.

Adam's choice was

he either goes

through door one

or door two,

but he doesn't

get to come back.

He chooses

one or the other.

And what his choice

is,

is for himself

and for all

of humanity

because he stands

as what they call

the federal head,

which means that

we were in him.

he represented us,

not just himself

and his wife.

Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

tells the story

of how Adam and Eve

chose to enter

door two

by eating

of the forbidden fruit.

I hope that that

clarifies

the situation

for us

and it adds

depth to the objection.

Oh,

well,

you're not going

to tell me

that all the troubles

of the world

are because somebody

ate an apple.

It's not just that at all.

This is a solemn covenant.

This is a solemn choice.

It's an opportunity

to exercise his free will

one way or the other.

In many ways,

it doesn't matter

what the fruit was

or whether it was fruit

in the first place.

It so happened to be

there cannot be

an easier,

more clearer option.

Nobody could mistake it.

What's more,

it doesn't get better

than the Garden of Eden.

It was no difficult thing

for Adam and Eve

to simply obey.

If they only had obeyed,

then they would have

opted for the right choice

both for themselves

and for the rest of humanity.

But it didn't happen

that way,

did it?

It didn't,

that's not the way it was

because through a process

of conversation,

this brings me on

to the second point

I wanted to raise with you,

a process of conversation

in chapter three,

which sees the introduction

of the serpent,

all kinds of questions

in chapter two,

chapter one,

two,

and three.

I know that Genesis,

first chapters of Genesis,

they conjure up

all kinds of questions.

Where did the serpent

come from?

Who was the serpent?

Where did evil come from?

Where is the origin of evil?

You read in chapter one,

God saw everything

that he had made

and it was all very good.

In that case,

where did the presence

of evil come from?

That's the most common question

everyone asks

who wants to know

the Bible more.

The answer,

I don't know.

Nobody can give you

a definitive answer

to that question.

It's one of these areas

where you just have to

throw up your hands

and say,

there is so much

I can understand

about the Bible

but it's limited.

We have to leave that

to God.

I do not know

where evil is originated

but it's there

and it's personal.

It takes the form

of Lucifer,

Satan,

whatever you want

to call him

and he takes the form

of a serpent

and he comes to Eve

in some way.

I don't know

what the serpent

looked like.

It doesn't matter.

He comes to Eve.

I would suggest

very quickly

after God commanded them

not to eat

of the tree

of knowledge

of good and evil

and he embarks

on this conversation,

the temptation

to do exactly

what God had forbidden

and there are

certain features

of this conversation

that are eerily

and scarily similar

to the way

in which he has operated

all down the centuries

even today,

even maybe even

right now

in this building.

He's never far away

but I want you to notice

one or two features

about this conversation.

First of all,

I want you to notice

that at no time

does the serpent

ever tell Eve

to eat the fruit.

Do you notice that?

At no time

does he actually say

I think you should

eat the fruit

because that's not

subtle enough

and it sort of

gives the lie

to the idea

that we think

of temptation

as this voice,

this little demon

on our shoulder

and he's whispering

to us

this is what you should do.

That's not the way

it works at all.

The way it works

is that

he began

to chip away

at the woman's trust

in what God

had said

and it was a slow

drip, drip, drip

process

in which he starts

the conversation

in a plausible manner

and says

to Eve

you know how

God said

what was that

he said?

He said

you can't eat

any of the tree

of the garden

again.

Remind me again.

She says

it's about

that we mustn't

touch the tree

in the middle

of the garden

of the tree

of the good

and evil

and at that point

he seizes

the opportunity

to chip

even further

and he says

actually

in actual fact

things are not

the way

that God

is presenting

them to you.

You're not

going to surely die.

He knows

that the day

you eat it

you'll become

like him.

that's what

he wants

to prevent

you from

better things.

And

you see

what he's doing?

He's chipping

away and he's

undermining

her trust

in the bare

word of God

alone.

and it works

because as the

conversation

proceeds

her mind

is wandering

away

from that

position

where she

accepted

or where

Adam

accepted

the simple

command

of God

not

to go

not to

touch

not to

eat

of the

tree

of

knowledge

of

good

and

evil.

I think

you know

what this

is about

don't you?

You know

this voice

at least

I do.

it works

in different

ways

according to

our

circumstances

where you

are

this evening.

The serpent's

been doing

this.

This is the

first time

he did it

to a man

and a woman

but he's

been doing

it for

centuries

ever since

and he's

doing it

probably

even

tonight.

even as

we speak

perhaps

some of

you open

the Bible

and say

is this

really

true?

Is this

really

true?

Is this

really the

basis of

our

understanding

of the

human

race?

I mean

look at

all these

eminent

scientists

that are

telling us

that we

can do

away with

God

because we

know so

much more

now in

the 21st

century.

We're so

advanced in

our

understanding

of science

and surely

this belongs

to the

Middle Ages

belongs to

the past.

Some of

you have

probably heard

this in

your place

of work

or perhaps

even people

in your

family have

said to

you

are you

serious

about this?

You still

believe?

That word

still is

really painful

isn't it?

You still

believe?

And it

gets to

you.

it gets

to you.

Can I

be personal

the way

it gets

to me?

I'm

coming to

the sort

of senior

end of

life.

I'm

there.

Senior

end of

life.

And the

voice I

hear very

often is

what have

you done

with your

life?

you

spent all

these years

following

Jesus

albeit

rather

badly.

You

haven't

made a

very good

job of

it.

But that's

just an

aside.

You

follow

Jesus.

Look at

what you

could have

done.

Look at

all these

people who have

decided to

go on

different paths

than you.

Are they

all getting

struck by

lightning?

No.

They're all

thriving.

They're having

a great time,

far better

time than

you are

choosing all

the difficulty

of ministry

and being

involved in

the church

and following

Jesus

instead of

just making

the most

of life.

You know

what you've

done?

You're only

going to

live once

and you've

blown it.

Exactly the

same thing.

Chipping

away.

the word

of God.

That's how

he does it.

How does

he do it

for you?

How does

he do it

for you?

Probably in

a similar

way.

What do I

do about

it?

How do I

respond to

that voice?

Well I

come straight

back to

the Bible.

And I

discover

actually in

the Bible

that I'm

strangely not

alone.

If you

read Psalm

73,

it's the

most remarkable

testimony in

which the

psalmist,

he goes

through exactly

the same

process and

conversation as

I've just

described.

And he

tells us that

the wicked are

thriving.

They're happy.

They're not

suffering in

any way.

And here

he is.

following God

in vain.

And now

there's a

turning point

in Psalm

73 where

he says,

then I

went into

the house

of God.

And the

moment I

went into

the house

of God,

I saw

things from

an entirely

different

perspective.

That's what

we need to

do.

my dear

friends,

when we

are overcome

by those

voices of

doubt,

we must

take refuge

in the

word of

God alone

that tells

us who

we are

and it

tells us

where our

hope and

our promise

and our

assurance

lies in

God's

word alone.

that's

what we're

here for,

isn't it?

We don't

have anything

yet.

I mean,

how else

when you

think of

the most

impossible

prospect,

which is

the resurrection

of the

dead,

that's what

God promises.

He says,

I am the

resurrection

of the

life.

He believes

in me,

though he

were dead,

yet shall

he live.

We believe

that.

Why would

we believe

that?

Because God

has said

it.

that's all.

The bare

word of

God alone.

Now,

I must

hurry up.

Then the

third thing

is that,

of course,

you know the

rest of the

story,

the rest

literally is

history.

The woman

took the

fruit,

and by

the way,

Adam was

as culpable

as Eve

was.

She was

the first.

Somebody

had to be

the first.

Well,

so be

it.

But the

moment that

Eve took

the fruit,

everything

changed.

The whole

environment

changed.

Light

became

darkness.

Sweetness

became

bitterness.

Security

became

fear.

Peace

became

turmoil.

Outside

and inside,

they knew

that they

all of a

sudden

discovered

that they

were naked.

Whereas

beforehand,

in a

perfect world,

that was

immaterial.

It didn't

matter because

God had

created them

that way.

There was

no need

for clothing.

Now they're

full of

shame and

embarrassment.

They

pathetically

sow fig

leaves for

themselves and

they hide

from God.

It only

gets worse

as the

chapter

proceeds.

God

comes into

the garden

in the

cool of

the day.

They know

it's going

to happen

because it's

happened

before.

Beforehand,

they've had

no problem

with God.

God has

been their

delight.

They've

looked forward

to him

coming in

and to

every

conversation

that they've

had,

every opportunity

of fellowship

with God.

They said,

yes,

Lord,

we want

you to

come in

now.

They don't

want to

see him.

They don't

want him

anywhere near

them.

And yet,

he's going

to come

in in the

cool of

the day.

It's

interesting.

Just a

little bit

of an

aside here.

When it

tells us

that the

Lord God

walked in

the garden

in the

cool of

the day,

well,

God,

that's an

anthropomorphism

when God

describes himself

in human

terms because

God doesn't,

he doesn't have

legs to

walk,

but that

doesn't matter.

We know

what's being

said.

But the

other question

here in

this verse

is the

cool of

the day.

Be very

careful,

very careful.

This is why

we teach

our students

Hebrew,

by the

way.

It's not

that cool

of the day

is not

correct,

but there's

maybe a

better way

of putting

it and

something

that is

a bit

more,

more,

more,

that will

fit the

context.

The cool

of the day,

walking in the

garden,

sort of

gives the

impression

that God

comes in

blissfully

unaware of

what's

happened.

He's going

for a

quiet stroll

in the

garden,

and he

doesn't see

Adam at

first,

and he

says,

Adam,

where are

you?

that's not

the way

it was.

You'll

notice

there's a

footnote

that says

the wind

of the

day.

This was

not some

kind of

innocuous

walk.

walk.

It

wasn't a

stroll.

This was

judgment.

This was

an angry

creator

who was

righteously,

exceedingly

angry

at the

fact that

his image

has

deliberately

disobeyed

him,

and he

has every

right to

be angry,

and he

seeks them

out,

and he

calls them

out,

and he

begins the

process of

interrogation,

and he

has three

things to

say.

When he

hears Adam

and his

pathetic

excuse,

he says,

what have

you done?

Have you

eaten of

the fruit

that I

told you

not to

eat?

Adam

immediately,

first case

of passing

the buck

in history,

when he

blames his

wife,

God

turns to

her,

he says,

what's

this you

have done?

She

passes the

buck to

the,

it's a

classic

case of

refusing to

take

responsibility,

if ever

there was

a mark

of sinful

behavior,

sinful human

nature,

it is that

we refuse

to take

responsibility

for what

we have

done.

It was

a serpent,

she says,

that deceived

me,

and I

ate.

And so

therefore,

God turns

to the

serpent,

and he

says,

he then

decides to

say three

things in

judgment,

he talks

to the

serpent,

then he

takes to

this woman,

and he

talks to

the man.

I'm going

to take

these in

reverse order,

simply because

if I do

so, we

will end

on a

note of

hope.

hope.

What he

says to

the man

is two

things.

There are

two edges

to what he

says to

Adam.

There's the

edge of

judgment,

but perhaps

surprisingly,

hidden in

this judgment,

there is

grace.

Where do I

see that?

Well,

what he

says to the

man,

he says,

because you

have listened

to the

voice of

your wife,

verse 17,

and have

eaten of

the tree

which I

commanded

you,

shall not

curse to

the ground

because of

you.

In pain,

you shall

eat of

it.

Now,

the good

news is,

you shall

eat.

In other

words,

you're going

to continue

to exist.

to be

with

difficulty.

Whereas

beforehand,

when you

planted seed

in the

ground,

it grew.

In a

perfect world,

if you

planted seed

in the

ground,

it will

yield

100%,

and without

any kind,

now you

are going

to have

frustration

after frustration.

And like I

said last

night,

these are

the first

fruit,

these are

the symbols

of all

the difficulty

that was

going to

arise,

the things

that go

wrong,

either minor

inconveniences

or major

catastrophes,

natural

disaster,

it's all

contained in

these words.

In pain,

you shall

eat of

it all

the days

of your

life.

Thorns

and thistles,

it shall

bring forth

to you,

and you

shall eat

the plants

of the

field.

Yet,

you shall

eat.

Do you

remember?

Do you

see that?

He's repeating

himself twice.

You shall

eat.

It's what

we call

common

grace.

It's how

theologians

explain the

fact that

God allows

life to

continue and

very often

to thrive

in a

sinful

world.

It's a

sign of

God's

kindness,

making the

sun to

shine on

the righteous

and the

unrighteous,

and the

rain to

rain on

the righteous

and the

unrighteous,

in the

words of

Jesus.

But then

to the

woman,

he says

this.

He says,

I will

surely

multiply you.

Two things.

He was going

to multiply

her pain

and child

being.

That was

going to

be a

mark of

the

consequence

that she

had to

suffer by

way of

her part

in the

disobedience.

It was to

become a

feature of

the human

race,

that whereas

animals with

relative ease

gave birth to

their offspring,

the woman

was to do

so in

pain.

I have no

direct knowledge

of course of

this.

I can only

talk about

having witnessed

the birth of

my six

children from

afar, but

it is true.

It's true,

isn't it?

But then he

says this,

your desire

shall be for

your husband

and he shall

rule over.

What does this

mean?

Your desire

shall be for

your husband

and he shall

rule over

us.

what it

means is

that whereas

there was

perfectly

balanced

desire for

him before

now,

there is a

distorted,

exaggerated

dependence on

him now.

And the

rule that he

would have

had before

now, which

was a

loving,

balanced

rule,

would now

become a

monstrous

one.

or might

become a

monster.

Again, if it

wasn't for

God's common

grace that

restrains us

sometimes more

than others.

So what God

is saying is

that whereas

beforehand you

had a perfect

equilibrium in

your relationship

with each

other, now

that's all

spoiled.

And your

view of him

is going to

change and

his view of

you is going

to change and

it's all going

to become

ugly.

Again, to a

lesser or

greater extent.

Let me give you

an example of

that.

I know the

time is

going.

Let me give

you an

example of

this.

Later on in

chapter 4,

we go into

the next

chapter and

chapter 4 as

the human race

develops and

as more people

are born and

as things

happen, you

come across

this nasty

character called

Lamech.

Chapter 4,

verse 23.

And he

marries two

women.

Well, that was

a red flag for

a start.

One of them

is called

Ada and

the other

one called

Zilha.

A nasty,

nasty piece

of work.

Right?

And he

kills a man.

But it's

not just

that.

He wants

to boast

about it

to his

wives and

he says

to them,

Ada,

Zilha,

hear my

voice,

you wives

of Lamech,

listen to

what I've

said.

I've killed

a man for

wounding me,

a young man

for striking

me.

What's

this?

What's

the idea

here?

The idea

I believe

is an

exact

fulfillment

of what

God said

to Eve.

That here

is a man

and he

is threatening

his wives

and he's

saying to

them,

see what

I've done

to this

guy.

Just be

careful.

Domestic

abuse

didn't start

in the

21st

century.

It started

way back

then.

But what

I want

to end

with is

God's

word to

the serpent.

Not only

was the

serpent to

crawl on

the ground

forever

as a

mark of

what God

had said

to him.

I don't

want to

spend any

time on

that.

I want

to spend

all the

time on

the next

bit,

the second

bit where

he says

I will

put enmity

between you

and the

woman and

between your

offspring and

her offspring.

I'm going to

split the

human race

in two.

There's going

to be race

number one

which is

going to

serve me,

the seed of

the woman,

and race

number two

which is

going to

serve you,

the seed of

the serpent.

They were

both going

to look like

sometimes two

people in the

same family

were born.

The seed of

the woman,

seed of the

serpent.

Seed of the

woman followed

the Lord.

Seed of the

serpent followed

the serpent.

I'm going to

split the

human race.

And as you

read all the

way through

the Old

Testament,

it becomes

very clear

who belonged

to which.

He says there

are going to

be enmity

between them,

there's going

to be war,

there's going

to be conflict

between these

two types of

human being,

those who

follow me and

those who

follow you.

But it's going

to end,

and here's how

it's going

to end,

because he

says it

will culminate

one day

in a man.

The reason

I know that

is because

the masculine

singular is

used in

verse 15.

He,

he,

he

shall

bruise

your

head,

and you

will

bruise

his

heel.

He'll

you.

You know

what this

is,

don't you?

It's the

first glimpse,

the first

glimmer.

It's the

wrath

remembering

mercy.

It's God's

solution to

an otherwise

hopeless,

catastrophic

event that

would have

ruined the

world

forever,

ever.

And yet

here is God

and he's

saying,

yes,

I'm going

to judge

you.