The Serpent And The Dust

“And the LORD God said unto the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life’….” [Genesis 3:14]

We all know the story. The serpent charmed Eve with his smooth talk, effectively confusing her thoughts so that she succumbed to temptation, ‘eating’ the forbidden fruit. Then she fed her husband and he ate, fully aware of the implications of his actions. Then man fell.

“And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” [1 Timothy 2:14]

Before this fateful event, we see God in creation: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” [Genesis 2:7]

Then after man’s wilful and calculating disobedience, a curse was pronounced upon him. God declared, “In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return unto the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and unto dust shall you return.” [Genesis 3:19]

“And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh like refuse.” [Zephaniah 1:17]

The Life of God in Man
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul.” [Leviticus 17:11]

We know that when God created man, He said it was a very good creation. Man was pure and without any form of sickness or disease. But how did sickness and disease enter into the world and by extension, into the body of man?

Looking back, we see that the devil sinned against God and he was cast out of God’s presence. He was the anointed cherub, a chosen vessel to carry light in God’s presence:

“Thus says the Lord GOD; You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of your timbrels and of your pipes was prepared in you in the day that you were created.

“You are the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set you so: you were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, till iniquity was found in you.

“By the multitude of your trade they have filled the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned: therefore I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you have corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor: I will cast you to the ground, I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you.

“You have defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of you, it shall devour you, and I will bring you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold you. All they that know you among the people shall be astonished at you: you shall be a horror, and never shall you be anymore.” [Ezekiel 28:13-19].

In the foregoing verses of scripture, we see a description of a personality, prior to the fall of man. A cross reference for this can be found in Isaiah 14:12-17.

The name Lucifer has a Hebrew root, hêylêl (pronounced hay-lale’), that is the morning star, which was translated to be Lucifer. But it is actually the devil. These two references, along with others such as found in Job, Matthew and Revelation give us a good picture of what the devil really was, is and is going to be.

Sin, Sicknesses and Diseases
It was the temporal punishment given to the devil that translated into sickness and disease. Sickness and disease is the decay that started as a result of the absence of God. Every moment, life is being emitted from the presence of God. That was why Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). That is what God has. He has life!

It is the absence of the life that God gives – that same life that brought Adam into existence – which brings death. Without God breathing into his nostrils, Adam would have been like any other statue – cold and lifeless!”

Now, remember that it is sin which makes death effective. “The sting of death is sin” (1 Corinthians 15:56). Without sin, death would not have surfaced since death only thrives in the presence of sin. “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.” [Ezekiel 18:4]

We see then, that the soul that sins is without the life of God. This is why there are sicknesses and diseases.

Destruction of Cancer
Sometimes I laugh at man’s newest discoveries, realizing that these so called ‘discoveries’ have already been mentioned in the Bible several thousand years ago. Do you know that cancer can be destroyed by a blast of oxygen?

In the UK where I live, recent reports have surfaced, which claim that there are more than 200 types of cancer and that 293,600 new cases are diagnosed each year in the UK ,which is responsible for one-in-four of all deaths. (http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/117617/Oxygen-kills-cancerOxygen-kills-cancerOxygen-kills-cancer)

According to the same report, experts have previously tried to cut off the blood supply fuelling tumour growths in an attempt to starve and be killed. But the new method improves the blood vessels within the tumour, increasing the concentration of oxygen. Instead of boosting a tumour’s growth potential, it has the opposite effect and weakens the cancer from the inside, making it far more sensitive to harsh radiotherapy.

“Usually cancer cells fight to survive, but the new treatment makes them weak and less resistant to treatment. Cancers low in oxygen are three times more resistant to radiotherapy. So, by restoring oxygen levels to that of a normal cell, the tumours become three times more sensitive to treatment. And a better, more stable blood supply in the tumour enables improved delivery of chemotherapy drugs.”

Dr. Otto Warburg once said, “All normal cells have an absolute requirement for oxygen, but cancer cells can live without oxygen – a rule without exception.”

Healthy Blood Cells

Now is that not laughable? No, I am not laughing at cancer patients, never! I am laughing at the “scientific” discovery. The Bible clearly states. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” [Genesis 2:7] It is therefore perfectly obvious what gave man his “life”, his original existence. God breathed oxygen into him!

Adam was like a brand new car with brand new parts. God brought those parts, which represents the human body, into life by kick-starting it with HIS own life!

“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.” [Ezekiel 18:4]

Let us recap before I continue. We have established these truths:
#1. Man’s life is in his blood and THAT life is by the oxygen that supplies energy to his body.
#2. God supplied the life of man.
#3. The absence of God’s life means sicknesses and disease and ultimately death.
#4. The devil was the serpent in the garden that tempted both Eve and Adam to sin.

If you’re still struggling to understand the above four points, please stop and read the article from the beginning again. Get your Bible out and check it to make certain that these things are really so, BEFORE you continue with the next point which, incidentally, is the crux of this article.

The Devil Bites The Dust!
When God cursed the serpent in the garden, He said, “upon your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life’….” [Genesis 3:14]

Now, how many times have you seen a snake feeding on dust or mud? None! What was God saying then? He spoke of the dust in the body of man!

The Hebrew root is ‛âphâr (pronounced aw-fawr’), which means “dust (as powdered or gray); hence clay, earth, mud: – ashes, dust, earth,” (Strong’s concordance).

This is the same dust from which man was made. The devil was going to be feeding off man! The devil’s means of having life would only come through man! Man disobeyed God and joined the rebellion of satan, and God punished man by giving him as food to the devil.

Remember that the absence of God’s life means sickness and disease. But, the presence of sickness and disease has something else. It has pain or torment. Now remember the account of the demonized man.

Luke 8:28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God most high? I beseech you, torment me not.

The demons were aware that further banishment from the presence of God was going to intensify their torment or pain, so they appealed to His benevolence and He granted them their wish, for a season. Their final end is on the horizon! That cannot be negotiated; God is not going to change His word.

The demons chose the life God had spoken into existence specifically for animals (Genesis 1:24). Therefore, when they noticed some animals nearby, they chose to enter them instead, but they so ravenously devoured the life in the pigs that the pigs quickly ran to their death! The demons were trying to relieve their torments in an earthen life.

The capacity for life in man is beyond comprehension. A single soul accommodated a legion of demons, sucking life out of him constantly for years without him dying completely, but about two thousand pigs could not sustain the same number of demons for a minute!”

The absence of the life of God – or presence of sin – brings forth sicknesses, diseases and death. This is why God is a specialist at incurable diseases!

Deep in The Marrow
The marrow is the place where new blood cells are formed. Let us, once again, refer to Wikipedia for assistance. “There are two types of bone marrow: red marrow (consisting mainly of hematopoietic tissue) and yellow marrow (consisting mainly of fat cells). Red blood cells, platelets and most white blood cells arise in red marrow. Both types of bone marrow contain numerous blood vessels and capillaries.

“At birth, all bone marrow is red. With age, more and more of it is converted to the yellow type; only around half of adult bone marrow is red. Red marrow is found mainly in the flat bones, such as the hip bone, breast bone, cranium, ribs, vertebrae and shoulder blades, and in the cancellous (“spongy”) material at the epiphyseal ends of long bones such as the femur and humerus. Yellow marrow is found in the medullary cavity, the hollow interior of the middle portion of long bones.

“In cases of severe blood loss, the body can convert yellow marrow back to red marrow to increase blood cell production.” (Bone Marrow)

Do you have a disease in your body such as cancer? This is what can happen: When you invite Christ into your life and He sups with you (Revelation 3:20), and you sup with Him by eating HIS Word – the Word of God – it enters into your bones and right into your marrow, mingles with the production of the red blood cells, purifies it and supplies fresh life. When that life circulates around your system, you become healthy!

Remember that man who had so many demons sucking away his life? After the demons had gone, he sat at Christ’s feet, listening to His words of life just like Mary did (Luke 10:39). He was feeding on Christ. But he did not stop there, he was clothed. He allowed Christ to cover him with His love, grace and mercy. He was patient enough to allow Christ to work in his life by His Spirit. (Mary was told that as soon as the Holy One is implanted in her, the Spirit of the Lord will cover her as well).

Then the man was in his right mind. He started having the mind of Christ. You cannot have the mind of Christ without total submission to Him. Jesus said, the “…. for the prince of this world comes, and has nothing in me.” [John 14:30]. There was nothing for the serpent to feed upon in Christ.

This is why you see Christ forgiving and cleansing a man from sin before healing him. And often after healing and setting the captives free, He would tell them to go and sin no more so that a greater evil does not come upon them.

“Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you.” [John 5:14]

“When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he said, I will return into my house from where I came out; and when he is come, he finds it empty, swept, and garnished. Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.” [Matthew 12:43-45]

It is sad to see many Christ-believers running helter-skelter in search of help in other men, when God has given us the solution of life through His Word.

Stop running after everyone you hear to be called a man of God; YOU are a man or woman of God, too! Pick up your Bible and study, God wants to have personal fellowship with you. Get on your knees and pray fervently as if your whole life depends upon that prayer. Then you will experience the miracle of God.

“For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwells in Zion.” [Joel 3:21]

God is able to supply ALL your needs through His Word and the working of His Spirit!

We are left with a question, however, does it mean that a Spirit-filled believer cannot become sick? Why does a holy believer get sick? In fact, why do some believers die of sickness? How do we explain Elisha who had a double portion of Elisha’s power but died of sickness? I will answer these in second part of the series.

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