Genesis 2:15 AMPC “And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and guard and keep it.”
Adam was passive with his wife, Eve, who was chatting away with the evil serpent. Now, we do not know the reason why Eve gravitated toward the serpent. Maybe Adam didn’t give enough attention to Eve? Perhaps, Adam did not realize HE was to exercise his dominion, checking up on his wife, as he may have just presumed everything was going to be fine. But we see in Genesis chapter 2 verse 15, in the AMPCC version, he was to guard the garden. This context is before Eve was created. Therefore, there is an underlying presumption of some danger since Adam must guard and keep it besides just tending his dominion. The garden is his dominion. What you possess, live on, and do is your dominion. Will you guard or just give up on what is yours due to fear and wanting a cookie instead? Some people just freeze in danger. Are you thinking of ice cream or shopping until you drop to comfort you? Or will you answer to the original call and mandate, “Guard your Eden!”
From the AI internet, quote
“In the Bible, the word ‘keep’ means ‘to guard’ or ‘to preserve”. In Genesis 2:15, God commands humans to “tend” or “keep” the Garden of Eden:
Maintain: The garden needed to be maintained and cared for.
Protect: The garden needed to be guarded and protected.
Serve: Humans were to serve the Lord.
The Hebrew word for “tend” or “keep” is shamar, which also means “to watch and protect”. “
And quote
Where did the spiritual war start? The devil came to Eve. The spiritual war is now fought through even our loved ones. Through your wife, kids, husband, or other believers, Satan will come to their ears or from inside them and try to convince them to say, do, or go in a certain direction. Sometimes when you go to war, you will end up warring with the devil, as you must go through a loved one who may be deceived in that moment. Jesus even rebuked Peter, but He was speaking to the devil who enticed Peter to say those words.
I am not saying you should be calling your spouse “Satan,” although I am sure many of you thought and desired to do so out of bitterness.
But when your spouse, whether husband or wife, or kids go off drifting away from the road of God’s Will and salvation, and you do nothing but watch and think your pastor is going to be your babysitter because you are a chicken 🐔, you are greatly mistaken in how you are thinking. You have your own dominion, and you must carry your own crosses and determine if your faith is genuine and whether you are all in or not. Or are you just here to get the fringe benefits and a cookie, tagging along but refusing to surrender? It just shows me you are not a person of prayer, and even if you do pray, you are praying for someone else to make the difficult decision for you when it belongs to you!
A man is to leave their parents and unite as one with his wife. Get off the milk (some of you literally) and sever the umbilical cord and properly consummate (new umbilical cord) with your new life, whether you are a man or a woman! Does the umbilical cord from mom still provide cookies, cake, and ice cream for you? Rather than fight, which you may have to when guarding your dominion, you instead hide, lie, and freeze because you are still the old man? As it says in Matthew 11, the Kingdom of God is obtained by force (passionate people), and for you to enter requires an assault.
This means, it will not be easy and if you have fear or possess a lack of faith, you will want to turn back and make excuses. Otherwise, you can war even if it means against your spouse or kids to do the right thing. Otherwise, cookies and cake are abundant in this lukewarm era. We are entering a new era in which you are forced to choose.
Comment:
Choice 1: Cookies, ice cream, cake—shop until you drop. These are comforting and warm, reminding you of Mom saying, “Everything will be fine,” when it is not!
Choice 2: Exercise your authority and dominion and be willing to lose to win. Be a man! Be a woman! Not an adult toddler!
Definition of dominion: “the power or right of governing and controlling; sovereign authority. rule; control; domination. a territory, usually of considerable size, in which a single rulership holds sway. Lands or domains subject to sovereignty or control.“
Although the original story of tangoing with the serpent is Eve, today, it can be the husband or wife who plays the Eve or vice versa, since there is an 80/20 rule at play.
The one spouse can look at the serpent tangoing with your spouse, and you just become a voyager instead. Do something about it!
Senior Pastor Steve Kim