The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Life before the Fall

Sometimes thoughts run around in my head, which produce questions, and sometimes I find myself answering them, but most of the time the remain questions. Some of the questions are fed by what I read here, so I thought maybe, I 'd just throw them out there. Of course I risk exposing myself as a nutcase, but I think I've already done that, so what the heck! [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/nuts.gif" alt="nuts" title="nuts[/img]<br><br>Dust...what was the purpose before the fall? and yes I think there was dust before the Fall, since Adam was created from it..ashes to ashes and dust to dust..it had to be there, and it had to be good! I've come to the conclusion that dust after the Fall is one of those Providentially subtle little reminders of our condition. Nothing will stay new or clean no matter how many times we try to remove it.<br><br>Fleas and ticks..what was their purpose before the Fall? I'm not sure I've thought of a purpose after the Fall. I have this little saying that there are no useless people, everyone serves some purpose even if it's only as a bad example. It's the closest I can come for these critters.<br><br>Mosquitoes? See above.<br><br>The genes that carry illness..cancer, malaria, leukemia, the list is endless really. What was the preFall purpose of these? I'm not sure that malaria is a genetic condition, on second thought, but you know what I mean. <br><br>Well that's a start anyway. Now I have alittle more room to ponder some more stuff!<br><br>Have a good night.<br><br>Hannahsmom

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]Dust...what was the purpose before the fall? and yes I think there was dust before the Fall, since Adam was created from it..ashes to ashes and dust to dust..it had to be there, and it had to be good! I've come to the conclusion that dust after the Fall is one of those Providentially subtle little reminders of our condition. Nothing will stay new or clean no matter how many times we try to remove it.</font><hr></blockquote><p> Dust on earth>>wind>>dust in atmosphere>>If it were not for dust you would not have a blue sky...it would be gray and dreary and thus, praise God for dust!! On earth, dust molecules that make up our atmosphere also partly block sunlight and scatter the light around the sky. Amazingly, they are much better at scattering blue light than red light, so some blue light gets scattered out of the direct sunbeam and goes into the rest of the sky. God said His creation was GOOD, not dreary.<br><br><blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]The genes that carry illness..cancer, malaria, leukemia, the list is endless really. What was the preFall purpose of these? I'm not sure that malaria is a genetic condition, on second thought, but you know what I mean. </font><hr></blockquote><p> Since, death entered the human race through Adam IMHO his genes (and those in others after him) were affected as well in the process of time--man use to live longer, et. al. The world itself was affected with the-fall and the protection once afforded the human body by a perfect Eco system no longer remained. Insects may have existed to assist in balancing the eco-bio systems (i.e. food, etc) and after the fall some of their processes were naturally changed (fall-change). [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/shrug.gif" alt="shrug" title="shrug[/img] Here is a site you may enjoy Answers in Genesis<br><br>The assortment of insects created by God assist in showing that "it was not all just by chance," but by Divine intelligent design that the wonder of His creation exists. I am sure a botanist could reveal some good use for the insects you named. If nothing else fleas made great play mates and entertainment for Adam's dog, named "dog". [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/rofl.gif" alt="rofl" title="rofl[/img]

QUESTION: What was the purpose of ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, etc. before the Fall?<br>ANSWER:Food! [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/grin.gif" alt="grin" title="grin[/img] It is my opinion that death existed pre-Fall because those creatures which made up the animal kingdom had to eat, whether it was plants or other animals. And, when the LORD told Adam that he would surely die, if he should eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, unless there was something for him to relate the meaning of that word to, it would have been nothing more than "nonsense" to him. So, that might be something to continue thinking about.<br><br>QUESTION: What was the purpose of the "dust" from which Adam was made?<br>ANSWER: I'm not sure that "dust" is necessarily the best translation of the Hebrew word, aphar. The several meanings of this word are: dust (as powdered or gray); hence, clay, earth, mud:--ashes, dust, earth, ground, morter, powder, rubbish. Perhaps it might be better to translate this word as "earth", or "ground". The body of Adam was formed from that which had no life of its own (Gen 2:7) thus impressing us that our "life" is from God who breathed into a body and created the soul; i.e., the imago dei (image of God). Thus, all that we are as persons, we owe to God our Creator and Sustainer. When we die, our bodies return to their place of origin, the earth and our souls likewise return to their origin, God. One of most moving passages of Scripture, for me, is Ezekiel 37. If one reads that portion of Scripture carefully, one will see that the "dry bones" were animated, i.e., they were given the parts of a body such as muscles, skin, etc., yet they were not really "alive". It isn't until the "four winds" (Holy Spirit) comes and breathes on these lifeless bodies that they came "alive". We are made by God, for God and will return to God in the end.<blockquote>Romans 11:33-36 (ASV) "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him [be] the glory for ever. Amen."</blockquote>In His Grace,

Hi Joe,<br><br>Thanks! The reference is going to be a very interesting read. And thanks also for reminding about blue skys and dust. The very thing that you'd think would make things less clear, is the very thing that brightens the whole place up. There's a deeper message in there somewhere, I think.<br><br>As for playmates for 'Dog', hmmm, I'll have to think about that one for a bit. 'Play' would indicate the relationship was good for both players, not parasitical (is that a word?). So it would be kind of like 'hide and seek' where 'Dog' is perpetually 'It'? [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/rofl.gif" alt="rofl" title="rofl[/img]<br><br>Hannahsmom<br>

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]So it would be kind of like 'hide and seek' where 'Dog' is perpetually 'It'? [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/rofl.gif" alt="rofl" title="rofl[/img] </font><hr></blockquote><p> That was a good one. <br><br>Parasitic? --IMHO God did set His natural order of things into being....thus, their existence may not always had been "parasitic" (at least in the destructive meaning of the term), but for eoc-bio balance and their state naturally changed after the fall. They may have passed around "good germs" [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/grin.gif" alt="grin" title="grin[/img] before the fall and thus prevented a mixture of otherwise destructive potentialities coming together, thus keeping a perfect balance according to God's intelligent design (this is speculation of course).

At least one group thinks so.<br><br>A commentary by Dr. Russ Moore:<br><br>http://www.henryinstitute.org/weblog/read.php?article=20030822&arc=1<br><br>This doesn't remark on whether Adam and Eve were vegetarians, but Dr. Moore writes on how some are trying to claim Jesus was a vegetarian!

Here's a little Off Topic humour for you. [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/grin.gif" alt="grin" title="grin[/img]<blockquote>When God created Adam, one of his responsibilities was to name all the creatures of the animal kingdom. And so it was, on a hot sunny afternoon, that Adam sat beneath a shade tree and began assigning names to the various animals that passed by. "I think I will call that one over there a giraffe.", he said. "And that one should be a horse.", he exclaimed. Suddenly, Adam was rather perplexed by one very large grey animal that rumbled close by. He thought for a minute and then said, "I think that this one should be named a hippopotamus!" The LORD came to Adam and asked him, "Why did you decide to name that one a hippopotamus, Adam?" "Well, " said Adam, "It's the only thing around here that looks like a hippopotamus."</blockquote><br><br>

Hi Pilgrim, <br><br>You know, I've wondered about that, too..pre-Fall death, that is. But, since Adam and Eve were vegetarians, is it too much of a stretch to think the animal kingdom was as well? <br><br>Hmmm..more stuff to think about.<br><br>Hannahsmom

Now THAT was a good one!

I'm not so sure a case can be made for a vegetarian animal kingdom. Unless one is wanting to suggest that all the animals that are presently existent which are carnivorous were immediately morphed in their physical structure after the Fall. Did lions and tigers, dogs, cats, alligators all have flat teeth, such as do cows and horses? Were their digestive systems totally different than what they are today? It would seem to me that the carnivores were no different then than they are today, i.e., the physical characteristics and structure was created by God to be meat-eaters. Yes, yes I know, thinking about such things does tend to produce a "Charlie Horse" between the ears. [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif" alt="laugh" title="laugh[/img]<br><br>In His Grace,

That's basically the line I was taking, too. So, instead of a parasitic relationship, it would have been a mutually helpful one? There's a word for that..but I can't think of it. So Tick' transfers 'good germs' to Dog, and Dog transfers Tick to...????<br><br><br>Must go, I'm getting tired (like you couldn't tell!)<br><br>Hannahsmom

Have a nice night and a wonderful Sunday!<br><br>By the way, it seems like each Friday or Saturday night since I've been going to my new church I've had the dream that I miss church (due to someone else, not me) and get frustrated.<br><br>Weird, huh?

Ok, this is the LAST post for me tonight..my brain is fried!<br><br>If we follow the logic of just the teeth in carnivores, then why do we humans have pointy little flesh tearing teeth if we were created to be vegetarians? [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/hairout.gif" alt="hairout" title="hairout[/img]<br><br>Have a great Lord's Day!<br><br>Hannahsmom

I loathe PETA.

Me too.<br><br>When Rush Limbaugh had his television show, he apparently served his audience a PETA sandwich (some sort of meat on pita bread)