East of Eden there was a land called Nod. In modern geography, Nod may have been India and Pakistan. The Nods were already present when Adam appeared. They are one of the mysteries with regard to how many humans God had actually created. This is also true of the animals. When Noah sacrificed the only two birds, how was he able to sustain their breed? The Nephilim died in the Flood. How then did they reappear in Canaan? In our inability to comprehend God, we keep on limiting His creativity. That is why the Nods have been a puzzle. Nevertheless, they were a beautiful and prosperous nomadic people. They lived more or less like the animals and the birds. Nature became both, their friend and their enemy. When things went well, these humans were happy and they gave thanks to nature for their successful labors. And when things went badly they felt that certain beings, they called “gods,” were against them. Man ended up spending much time in rendering many sacrifices to please these unreasonable beings that could not be questioned.

The Biblical concept of creation is based on faith in a God (Elohim) that was and is the only one capable of creating and running a world that is beyond human grasp. The Biblical names of God are human attempts to glorify the Creator for certain parts of His handwork. In fact, man himself must have faith that he too can fit into God’s design here on earth (Heb. 11: 3,6). The heavens only can declare the glory of God and man remains astounded why God makes such a fuss about him (Ps. 19:1; 8:1-9). God, most definitely, regarded man as His main and special creative handiwork. Man was intended to perpetuate the image of God on earth. There was a belief that man existed in the mind of God before the world was created and that the world was created for man, and not man for the world (Eph. 1:4; Gen. 1:26-28). Man has come to believe in revelation – that is God has disclosed His intentions from time to time (Heb. 1:1-3). His disclosures are conditions and warnings regarding cause and effect. It is what man does, with his life that affects everything around him. The Creator has given man a free hand because He made him good. Adam and Eve consented to disobey God’s command by choice that resulted in their descendant’s endless fall.

The clock of history is ticking toward a time for harvesting the Northwest of Eden or the U.S.A. Jesus’ prediction was: “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all” (Lk. 17:26-27). “Learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Mt. 24:32-35). The fig tree is Israel. In A.D. 70, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the nation of Israel (Mt. 24:1-2). In A.D. 666, the man that will form a system that will be mortal to Jews and Christians began to trample on Jerusalem for 1290 years (Dan. 12”11). Israel was reborn in A.D. 1948 and is no longer being trampled on. A world organization called “Babylon” is in place and it assists the forming of the ten nations that will become strong enough to destroy Babylon and attempt to wipe out Israel and Christianity. One third of humanity will be killed before Christ’s return and his allies will destroy the forces of Antichrist (Rev. 17-19). It will be incomprehensible that the “Land of the Eagle” or the “Free and the Brave” will be fated along with Babylon (Rev. 17:17). The same cause and effect of sin that began in Adam has had its impact on Noah’s generation and on every generation into our time. Biblical prophecy was and still is a warning of the consequences of moral decay. Humans have attempted to soften the consequence of sin with grace and unconditional love that Christ could provide have had the contrary effect on human behavior. In fact, it has become a license to perpetuate sin and turn it into a normal form of a human condition and behavior. Christ, Himself, did not believe that humans would change much (Lk. 18:8).

Prophecy was and still is being regarded as a message from heaven when in reality it is a product of cause and effect. I have come to believe that God does not want us to stumble about in uncertainty. Jesus had this advice, “You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times” (Mt. 16:3). Biblical prophecy to us is mostly hindsight based on cause and effect. In the same way, cause and effect aid us in projecting the future. Human actions and decisions have and still are the cause of success or failure. Thanks to Adam, failure or evil has outdistanced the good or what is right. The Creator attached His promises to conditions and to human behavior and work. God has endowed man with a conscience that can discern between good and evil (Ro. 2:14-15). Adam knew that he had done wrong before the voice from heaven questioned him and so did Cain regarding the slaying of his brother Abel. When man makes a mistake, he does not need someone to remind him. He should, by now, have learned that his mistake would escalate and become unmanageable. There is nothing in this world that can be concealed or remain hidden (Mt. 10:26). The slightest transgression will result in tragic consequences. The same rule applies to doing what is right. Cause and effect produces either curses or blessings (Deut. 27:12 –28:68). Moses had based his prediction of his people’s demise on disobeying their God’s precepts as much as Adam did his. The laws designed by God, and even by godly individuals, were made to protect us and not to hurt us. But they must be used for man and not against man (Mk. 2:27). Man-made laws both religious and secular that have protected certain interests have caused most of the turmoil in the world. Jews for Jews, Greeks for Greeks, Romans for Romans, Christians for Christians, Muslims for Muslims, Americans for Americans, Democrats for Democrats, Republicans for Republicans and the list goes on. Their protective regulations have divided, splintered and ended nations and religions and the U.S.A. is on course of self-destruction.