Today we can find many Christian congregations all around the world. What they have in common is that they believe in Christ as the Savior. Except for this, almost all the churches have different doctrines and follow different regulations. They all believe that their worship of God is acceptable to God since it is done out of their love toward God. However, is this true to believe that all the worship services are acceptable to God if it is done in the name of God and Christ? We can find one example in the story of Cain and Abel.
Genesis 4:2 Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
According to this story, Cain was a farmer and naturally he offered grains he produced with his sweat; and Abel, fat portions from the firstborn of his flock. Each of them offered the best they could in their perspective. Then did God accept both offerings with a willing and pleasing mind? That was not the case. God accepted Abel’s offerings with pleasure, but not Cain’s.
What was the reason for this favoritism shown toward Abel? Was it God’s preference? No. The answer can be found in the next verse in the words of God to Cain: “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
Through this we can know that there was something that is not right in the offerings of Cain. According to the bible, the cleansingness or the forgiveness of sins are obtained by shedding the blood.
Hebrews 9:18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19 When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”[e] 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Even from the beginning, God set up the law that the forgiveness of sins can be achieved only through shedding blood. And there is no forgiveness without shedding blood. God already made know this fact to Cain and Abel; Abel obeyed the words of God, but Cain did not. For this reason the offerings of Cain was not acceptable in the eyes of God. This means the offerings must be done according to the words of God. And the offerings which are perform arbitrarily without the words of God are not pleasing in the eyes of God.
It is the same to day with the spiritual offerings, that is, the worship services. The worship services done according to the words of God are like Abel’s offering and God will willingly accept that kind of offering. It is because that offering is done in the obedience to the words of God. Then what about the worship services done like the offerings of Cain? However much may one put his mind and soul for the service, it is not acceptable in the eyes of God and those who offer in this way out from their own opinions cannot receive blessings from God. Rather, as God said to Cain, things which are not done according to the words of God are not right and those who do what is not right are committing sins against God because sin is lawlessness, in other words, disobedience to the words or the laws of God.
Then let us think of the worship services done among the churches today. Some churches practice the Sunday worship and others the Sabbath worship. And they all believe that they are doing the will of God. Then which practice is done according to the words of God in the bible. In the Book of Exodus, God commanded clearly that we must keep the Sabbath day, not Sunday.
Exodus 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Then according to this verse what is the law of God? Keeping the Sabbath Day holy is the law of God. Then what is the Sunday worship? It is an act like the offering of Cain who practiced lawlessness when he did not obey the commands of God. Those who take part in the Sunday worship are doing the same as Cain and they are practicing lawlessness in the eyes of God. Consequently, their offerings will not be pleasing in the eyes of God and they cannot receive any blessings out of their worship services.
God teaches us that we must have knowledge in the worship of God. Today so many people emphasize only the faith and love toward God. They say what is important is faith in God, not the work we have done such as keeping the laws and regulations. But God says to those who have faith in him: “If you love me, keep my commands.” We as believers who have faith in God have to obey the commands of God to show our faith toward God. This is the will of God.
Throughout the bible, God teaches us that we must honor our father and mother.
Ephesians 6:2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
In the Ten Commandments, the first commandment is “You shall have no other gods before me.” However, in Ephesians, the bible teaches that “Honor your father and mother” is the first commandment. Then what is the relationship between the two commandments?
The first commandments, “You shall have no other gods before me” means that God is the only one who gave salvation to the people and thus God’s people must worship only God, not the idols, which has no power to give salvation. And “Honor your father and mother” is the fifth commandment in the Ten Commandments.
Then why does Paul says that “Honor your Father and Mother,”—which is the fifth commandment—is the first commandment that we have to keep? When God commanded that we should not have no other gods before us, it means that we must worship only God. In the Old Testament, God revealed himself as God Jehovah and people called him as Lord. And the Israelites worshiped God as Jehovah.
However, when Jesus came 2000 years ago, he taught that God is our Father since we receive flesh and blood from God. We now can called God as Father since we are considered as children of God. And in the Book of Galatians, God teaches us that we have our Mother, that is, God the Mother in heaven.
Galatians 4:26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
And Paul continues to teach that we can become the children of promise, or God’s people who receive the promise of eternal life from God. Therefore, when God taught his people that they must honor their father and mother, actually God was teaching them that they must honor the spiritual Father and Mother, God Elohim. And in that way, they come to fulfill the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Through the respect for the physical father and mother, God wanted to teach us the worship of God Elohim, our spiritual Father and Mother. By keeping this commandment, we can worship only God who gives us eternal life.
Hebrews 12:9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!
Through our love for the physical parents, God ultimately wants to teach us about our love for our spiritual Parents, God the Father and God the Mother. Let us honor our parents with all hearts, minds and soul. And then we can fulfill the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
And God sternly commanded that those who do not honor their father and mother must be put to death. Through this we can know that how important it is to keep the fifth commandment. It was given only for the physical parents. It was teaching of God for the children of God to teach them that they must honor the Spiritual Parents for the salvation. Those who do not honor God the Father and God Mother cannot receive salvation.
In Genesis, God created the Garden of Eden and planted the Tree of Life in the middle and He gave free access to the tree to Adam and Eve so that they could eat from the tree and have eternal life. But when they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, disobeying the words of God, they could not eat from the Tree of Life and they could not live forever. This is how death enter into the human being.
The Tree of Life
Genesis 3:22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Because of their sin, Adam and Eve was driven out from the Garden and they were not allowed to eat from the Tree of Life. To stop the sinner from eating the tree of life, God place angels and a flaming sword to guard the way. After this they were destined to die since they could not eat from the tree of life. And the bible says that this story is not just a story of Adam and Eve, but it tells what happened to all human beings on this earth who were destined to die just like Adam and Eve. Therefore, if we could eat somehow from the tree of life, we can live forever. Then how can we find the tree of life and how can we disarm the angels and flaming sword to enter into the garden to eat from the tree of life?
First, we must understand that this story of the Garden of Eden is just a parable. No where on this earth can we find a actual place which is called the Garden of Eden. Therefore, first we must understand this figuratively. Then in reality what is the tree of life that we must eat to live forever? It is the words of God, the Ten Commandments. God gave the Ten Commandments as the reality of the tree of life so that people can eat and live forever.
Moses’ Ten Commandments
The Reality of the Tree of Life
Jesus said that the true bread is the words of God.
Matthew 4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
God gave his words so that people could eat and they could live forever when they kept the words.
Ezekiel 20:11 I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live.
We can confirm this through the sanctuary in the Old Testament. God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments or the words of God so that people who obeyed them could live by them. And He commanded Moses to put the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments in the Most Holy Place of the Temple in the Ark of the Covenant under the Wings of the two cherubim.
Exodus 25:17 “Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 18 And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 19 Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. 20 The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. 21 Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. 22 There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.
God commanded Moses to make an atonement cover to put on the ark of the covenant which contained the Ten Commandments. And he said he would sit enthroned on the cover between the cherubim and that is why this cover was once called “a mercy seat” or “the throne of God.” Moses made this atonement cover in accordance with the commands of God and put the ark and cover in the Most Holy Place with the two stone tablets in the ark of covenant.
Then why did God command Moses to make a two cherubim on either side of the atonement cover? What were the cherubim doing? God gave the Ten Commandments as the reality of the tree of life so that people could eat and live forever. But not everybody could enter into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain and get near to the tree of life, the Ten Commandments. If sinners tried to enter into the Most Holy Place and eat from the words of God, they could be killed as we can see in many places in the bible. (1 Samuel 6:19, 2 Samuel 6:6)
Leviticus 10:1 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.
When the two sons of Aaron the high priest tried to enter into the Most Holy Place which was contrary to the command of God, they were immediately put to death by fire. Why did this happen? It was because the two cherubim and the flaming sword was guarding the way to the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place. Through this God was teaching us that the reality of the tree of life is actually the Ten Commandments and the cherubim on the ark of the covenant was the same cherubim guarding the way of the tree of life in the garden of Eden. Therefore, we can confirm that the Ten Commandments or the words of God was given as the tree of life so that we can eat and live forever.
Why did God command Moses to fashion Cherubim on either end of the atonement cover?
How To Eat From The Tree of Life
However, the tree of life was guarded by cherubim and a flaming sword and a sinner could be put to death if he tried to enter into the garden to eat from the tree. Therefore, the tree of life was useless to them since they could not eat from it. In the same way, the Ten Commandments was given as tree of life, but it is useless to a sinner because he could be killed as soon as he tries to enter the Most Holy Place. Then why did God give something that is meaningless to a sinner? Did the work of God for the salvation fail because no sinner can eat from the tree of life and everybody is a sinner and nobody can eat from the tree of life? In conclusion, the work of God is not meaningless. Every single thing in God is important and given to us for our salvation. If then, how can we enter into the Most Holy Place and receive eternal life promised in the Ten Commandments? The answer is the law of God given along with the Ten Commandments. A sinner cannot enter into the Most Holy Place to eat from the tree of life, but when the sinner was forgiven of his sins, then he could enter and eat from the tree of life.
When Aaron’s two sons tried to enter into the Most Holy Place by their own opinions, they got killed, but God allowed the access to the inner room when a priest was purified of their sins through the blood of animals on the Day of Atonement.
Leviticus 16:1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover. …3 “This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place: He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering[a] and a ram for a burnt offering. ….6 “Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. …..11 “Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household, and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. 12 He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain. 13 He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the covenant law, so that he will not die.
God allowed a sinner to enter into the Most Holy Place to eat from the tree of life only when his sins were forgiven through the blood of animals. And also God said not to enter whenever he wanted to enter, but he must enter according to the laws and regulations of God. When God gave the Ten Commandments, God also gave them a guideline to let them know how and when to enter into the Most Holy Place to eat from the tree of life.
Deuteronomy 31:24 After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end, 25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord: 26 “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God.
Right next to the ark which had the Ten Commandments or the tree of life was placed the Book of the Law. What was this book of the law and why was it place along with the ark? It was because this Book of Law was given to teach them how to enter into the Most Holy Place and eat from the Tree of Life so that they could live forever. Then what was recorded in the book? What was the law given along with the Ten Commandments?
Exodus 34:27 27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
The covenant or the Ten Commandments was given according to “these words.” Then what are these words? If we read some verses right before verse 27, we can see the festivals of God. From verse 18 of the same chapter up to verse 26 God is speaking about the festivals such as Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. And he said in accordance with the law of feasts, he made the covenant with his people and as the sign of covenant he gave the two stone tablets. Therefore, the law which was given along with the Ten Commandments or the tree of life was actually festivals of God. In the Old Testament all the festivals of God was kept with animal sacrifices by shedding the blood of animals for the purification of sins. In short, a sinner cannot enter into the Most Holy Place for the tree of life, but when the sinner was forgiven of his sins through the blood of animals according to the regulations of the festivals, they could enter and eat from the tree of life.
Spiritual Fulfillment
It is the same with us who are living in the New Testament. We also can enter into the Most Holy Place and eat from the tree of life through the blood of Christ who is the reality of the animal sacrifice.
Heb 10:19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body
Through the sacrifice of Christ our sins can be purified and we can enter into the inner room and eat from the tree of life. Then how and when can we be purified of our sins? Through God’s appointed times, the Festivals of God. Once the festivals of God was abolished by the work of Satan and no sinner could eat from the tree of life, but now Christ Ahnsahnghong brought back all the festivals of God and opened the way to the Most Holy Place through his blood. And he also let us know the true reality of the Most Holy Place and the ark of covenant, that is, Our Mother who is the true source of water of life. We must come to Zion, the city of festivals and keep all the festivals and then we can eat from the tree of life. The World Mission Society Church of God is the only place which was established by Christ Ahnsahnghong. Come to Zion and Father and Mother will forgive our sins and give us eternal life. Amen.
