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I can pray for my sibs, but I cannot do much else. My sister (a physician) tried to convince me that I have a "mental problem", because I believe in a "Santa in the sky", and because I have a website with Bible studies. My brother doesn't even speak to me. I get a birthday card from his wife, once a year. My brother was high up in law enforcement when he retired. My sibs are NOT people you can "talk with". When I came to believe - at age 30 - I did NOT push it on my sibs. Not at all. ('Cause I remembered how much I hated "religion".) But I'm sure they heard about it from my Mom (the only other believer). She's now gone. She lived with my sister for 12 years, acting as nanny to her 3 kids. When the kids got older, she shipped Mom off to me. My sister told her - in no uncertain terms - NEVER to pray in front of her grand-kids, NEVER to speak to them about Jesus or the Bible, etc. etc. How my sweet Mom endured it - I don't know. Only with prayer, and 'cause she loved her grand-kids. From what you describe, you suffered serious abuse. Mine was MILD by comparison.

If you're trying to reach individuals, help them find what they're missing. They probably need something real and tangible. No amount of theology can make up for that.

Politics seem to make fairly intelligent thinkers brain dead.

Eleanor Attarian Wahlen, a former member of the Music Dept. faculty at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, has died, in her home in Pasadena, California. Her death was not a surprise to any of her close friends, who knew she had been feeling weaker and slightly ill, but she was alone at home when she died, on Monday, December 21, 2015. She had driven herself to her regular weekly concert of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in downtown Los Angeles, at the Disney Concert Hall, on the previous Thursday night. Some of her friends from church had called on her on Sabbath the 19th, but when her pastor attempted to reach her by phone on Monday the 21st he got no answer. So he then notified her nephew, who called the police. They found her in her home, dead. She was a sprightly lady, who must have been about 86 years old. Her husband, Dr. Chester Wahlen, had died more than ten years earlier. She had continued to teach piano lessons, mostly going to the homes of her students, all in the Pasadena area. She had no children, but had a multitude of family, including nieces, nephews, and siblings of her late husband's. She was a lifelong Seventh-day Adventist, and a trained musicologist who knew all the classical repertoire for piano and for symphony orchestra. She taught first at Glendale Union Academy in California, after her graduation from Pacific Union College. Then she was called to Union College to teach there, about 1955 or so. She returned to California in 1962 [I think it was] to marry her fiance Dr. Wahlen, and lived there from that time on. She was a spunky, intelligent, active church member and musician. We've lost a wonderful lady.

Hey Wingnut, I don't know whether or not to like your post. I disagree with you where you say "we can't blame it on satan". I would agree with "we can't blame it all on satan". I DO agree that God is ultimately responsible for it. I think He freely admits that throughout His Word. Yes; He gives satan permission to torment us. He gives me permission to torment you and your family. That doesn't mean I need to do so. I also believe that He sent His Son to pay our eternal price for our sin and suffering. Because God has allowed pain and suffering to come into the world, He has also given us an exit ramp from sin and suffering through His Son. Without Jesus' sacrifice, none of us would have any chance to escape the evil in this world except through the eternal oblivion of death. God allowed the Jews to crucify Jesus - Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified. He could have stopped it instantly if He wanted to. The Jews didn't kill Jesus; He voluntarily gave up His life. He is God! He only suffered and died because He allowed Himself to do so. Just because God allows something doesn't mean He made it happen. When I look at Job's life, I don't view it as God testing Job. satan tested Job - with God's permission. God - who knows everything past, present, and future, knew Job could withstand satan's onslaught; and was bragging on him - daring satan to show Him otherwise. God won that bet; and Job was restored and then some. I have no idea why God would do that. In the end, Job never found out why, either. God basically told Job it was none of his business. I'm not saying it is or isn't our business; but could God's answer to Job be the universal answer for all of us? I confess, "none of your business" is NOT a satisfying answer to why God allows suffering..

Even on this site there are those who don't want to discuss things that are too far "out of the box".

My DAY JOB, this issue has a focus on the Ministry of IT IS WRITTEN (english) in Canada. http://www.adventist.ca/3dissue/messenger/85-1/

Amidst suffering there is more room to appreciate this. I may have to put it on more than one page. John Woodrow Cox - The Washington Post - Friday, December 25, 2015 Another self sacrificing, suffering child of God who puts my own complaining to shame. God is Love!~Jesus saves!

It hurts to see saints go to sleep. All they did was bring joy to the lives of others.

Too bad for you that all that is a bunch of hogwash... But then lack of truthiness never gets in the way of good old political propaganda.

I've heard Rico Cortes speak about the adoption ceremony in the ancient world. Adoption was common in the Roman world. A man without a son to inherit his estate would adopt one. An adopted son was accepted in society AS no less than the son of his adoptive father. The adoption ceremony involved an immersion in water, to symbolize the "waters" from the womb. There's a scene in the movie "Ben Hur" where he is about to be adopted by the Roman he saved from the shipwreck. Christian baptism is also a BIRTH ceremony, and we are adopted by our heavenly Father. The individual must consent to the adoption, so baptism would be VERY important. Sprinkling would not have the same "birth" significance, to someone in the ancient world. Sprinkling would only symbolize cleansing. Of course - to them - especially those who were Jews, it would actually BE cleansing. The LORD would cleanse you, or declare you cleansed BECAUSE you received the sprinkling. For the ancients, there was little separation between symbol and reality. We look at the sacrifices, and the priests, and the Temple, and the Feasts - all as symbolic - as prophecy, but an ancient Jew would not see things this way. He would not believe his sin was actually atoned for, without that Lamb, or that ceremony at the Temple. On the downside, the Pharisees believed they were forgiven, or cleansed, etc. BECAUSE they did the ceremonies.

After the non-stop downpour for forty days and nights, the water’s depth eventually reaches approximately 22 feet above the highest point on the surface of the earth. At this point, we are hoping the worst is over even though the water is still in a swirling fury as the crust of the earth beneath the flood waters adjusts to its new, more rugged structure. After five months of being tossed about, God, out of His compassion for the inhabitants of the ark, guides the ark into a calmer area where He did not permit the landscape to change so drastically. The shape and location of this valley between two gently sloping mountain sides allows the ark to drift about a little less violently until the surface of the earth dries. Noah notices that the water is starting to subside a little and opens the top of the boat to see if there is any hope of landing soon. When he sees the sea of water still surrounding him, he does not bow his head in depression but instead with his chin lifted high in the confidence of God’s soon delivery sets a raven in the opening in the boat and encourages it fly off into the sky that is no longer so dark and angry. It returns a little while later after finding that the endless sea of rolling water did not meet the requirements of a good resting spot. A week later, Noah lets out a dove with the hope that the watery landscape that has been carrying the ark for so many weeks is finally beginning to transform into a more solid one. When the dove returns with a branch in its mouth, there is much rejoicing in the ark. But they must still trust God to let them out of their captivity just at the right time. In an effort to keep their morale from ebbing back down again, the Father sends us from the throne room with instructions to encourage Noah and his family in creative ways without making ourselves known. We enjoy loads of fun by frolicking with the animals and whispering to them. The animals’ silly sounds and funny tricks are temporarily, but masterfully, crowding out the constant temptation from the humans’ minds to wallow in their self pity and averting their propensity to question whether God in fact does know best. However, before we are allowed to unfasten the door of the ark, there is some cleanup work that must be done to ensure the earth will have the necessary resources to perpetuate life for the future inhabitants, and also to hinder the human proclivity for avarice and idolatry that emerges from having unrestricted access to the earth’s natural elements such as oil, precious metals and water. We set the jet stream in motion which causes a strong wind to blow over the surface of the ground to cover all of the loose remnants from the cataclysmic flood waters. The scattered remains of the trees, along with the people and animals, are buried deep under the ground so that a source of oil and fuel would still be available for people many centuries later in earth’s history. The metals such as gold, silver and copper are buried in largely difficult places to reach such as under mountains, in deep valleys, and under ocean floors. The humans will have to purposefully mine and dig to gain access to them; and even then some of the metals will never become completely accessible. We also mix salty elements into some of the remaining flood water so that large bodies of salt water now cover expansive portions of the earth as a way of preventing people from hoarding too much land and water and using it to their own destructive ends. After what seems like an interminable period of waiting to the inhabitants of the ark, God gives us the go ahead to open the doors of the ark and guide the captives into the freedom of the newly renovated world. The grass is starting to grow and cover the bareness of the rough ground. Noah and his family stand in front of the ark for awhile to take in the harsh changes to the planet. Now they will have to figure out how to sustain their lives in a very different atmosphere than they were used to before. The air does not quite seem so rejuvenating as before and the terrain is much less hospitable. But Noah has learned gratitude in the face of adversity and challenge. The first thing he does is find some large rocks and build an altar so that he and his family can worship God together and thank Him for their safe journey and ask for His divine help as they learn to navigate their new surroundings. We are delighted to watch how God responds from His heart with the beautiful light that surrounds His throne room. He installs the most magnificent rainbow in the clouds overhead with the promise that a flood of water on such a grand scale will never again prevail the earth.

teresaq brought up an interesting point. How DO you explain "why is there suffering" to a non-believer? If I were a non-believer and one of the "saints" told me that maybe Jesus was trying to get my attention, I might tend to doubt the goodness of a god who used torture to "get my attention". I'll go back to Wanderer's advice - lend a sympathetic ear; and maybe a hug; maybe cry together. I would consider that more of a blessing than a sermon on Job. At any rate, today is Christmas; and my prayer for all of you is freedom from pain, suffering, and grief - at least for today.

We MIGHT be able to use the same argument for December 25. In the articles that Biblical Archaeology Review and Bible Review has been quite good at publishing over recent years, and which is also starting to cross over into other articles and sermons and programs. Some of the scholars looking at this evidence are saying that there is no historical evidence of December 25 being a special date for the Pagans until the time of Constantine when they moved their different important days around this date to this date specifically. This may or may not be true but if it is true then Christians had December 25 first. In the Bible we find Sabbath from the beginning, but it was not fully revealed and understood as Sabbath until the exodus. So it is not what came first but how it is used. Remember Mrs. White's counsel about Sunday Laws, that we are then to give Sunday to the Lord and use it for a day of evangelism and meetings. Sunday keeping is clearly paganism, but the problem with Sunday keeping is how it is used in place of the Sabbath. We can do special things on Sunday just as long as we remember that Sabbath is Sabbath. While not sure just when it started, it appears that the early church went to Synagogue on Sabbath and kept the Sabbath, but on Sunday got together to study the life of Christ and writings of Paul and things that were more specifically of interest to Christians as opposed to the Jewish/Christian topics of Sabbath worship in the Synagogue. The problem came when the Sunday get together started to replace the Sabbath.

Theologically it's easy enough to explain. The world that we currently have is the result of Satan's governance, not God's, and as nice as it would be personally to be relieved of suffering, it would also risk concealing the fact of how terribly mismanaged everything is right now, and the need to put an end to it. That's not necessarily a satisfactory explanation on the personal level, though. No quantity of words written in books can substitute for action. If someone feels like God is refusing to help with something that is genuinely needed, the loss of hope is inevitable.

After what seems like an eternity of battling with Satan in order to maintain a line of people who are still loyal to God, Noah is finally maturing into that faithful man whom God could trust with the instructions of how to build the ark and to continue telling the world how to be saved from the coming flood. Enoch, one of our faithful human friends who now lives with us, was instrumental in voicing God’s warning to the world that their continual belief in the deceptions of Satan was going to eventually lead to their eternal ruin. Now Noah is continuing to preach the same warning from God with more urgency. Some of our human friends remember Enoch’s warning and again feel the conviction to turn from their old ways. But sadly, the longer Noah preaches, the more Satan is determined to make God’s message of salvation to the world as ineffective as possible. People are becoming more convinced that an immediate action on their conviction to repent is unnecessary since Noah and his family have been building the boat for almost 120 years already. The people are now more brazenly expressing their opinions about Noah’s predictions of the worldwide flood than when he first started to preach. Some are calling him demeaning names and claiming that he needs to be locked up for insanity, while others believe that threats of physical harm to him and his family will make him stop sounding the alarm. Every day people from different parts of the world show up just to gawk at the strange sight of a gigantic boat being built on dry land. People mockingly say that if the rain ever does come, he will have to figure out how to move it closer to a pond by himself. Although, we have to admit that preaching about a flood of water destroying the world to a people who have never seen rain fall from the sky before does seem a bit bizarre; we are hoping that people would at least stop to think about what Noah is saying long enough to question if there might be any truth in it, especially since his warning has been accompanied by the building of a boat large enough to hold everyone who decides to listen and be saved. After 120 years of protecting Noah and his family from the jesting crowd’s propensity toward violence, we are relieved that God is finally giving the signal to move forward with the preparation for the flood. Noah walks up the ramp to deliver the last message to the world while his sons give the ark its final touches. We are also sent to perform a miracle so that even the most defiant scoffers will have one last chance to at least consider the validity of God’s gift warning and accept His offer of salvation. We are instructed to gather from all parts of the globe the animals, birds, and everything else that creeps and flies and line them up in an orderly fashion to begin their march toward the ark’s open door. Our human friends flock to the scene as the long and organized trail of animals marches by on their way into the ark from all corners of the earth. The animals know exactly what to do and where to go because we are guiding them, but the people cannot see our presence and find this event to be very mysterious. We snicker as we hear the renown leaders of the world try to explain what is happening as if it is all some kind of magic. They are coming up with all sorts of explanations, some of which sound logical, and some of which are simply off the wall. Then the birds and insects begin their migration, making the sky appear dark from the sheer amount of them. For a moment, while the migratory paths block out the sun, we notice the people’s panic level starting to rise and sense that they are starting to question the legitimacy of what Noah had been saying all along. Of course, by now Satan has learned how to quickly and effectively take advantage of the situation when people fear losing their security. Through the leaders, Satan is able to convince the masses that just a fluke in nature had caused the strange happenings and that everything would return back to normal very shortly. This proclamation gives the people a momentary sense of peace, making their need to stop and evaluate the extreme urgency of the situation not so keenly felt. Our hearts cry out as still no one seems to take our even more dramatic warnings seriously. But one last ditch effort must be tried to save anyone who might still accept the offer to be saved if given one final opportunity. We cannot afford to give Satan an opportunity to accuse the Godhead of not saving someone because there was not have enough time to make a final decision. Noah and his family tearfully make the final announcement to the masses surrounding the ark that once the massive door is shut no one will be able to enter the ark with them. They then turn around and sadly go through the door of the ark. Just as they disappear inside, a flash of light brighter than lightning appears over the door and remains there for a moment as if waiting for that last person to decide to enter. When it becomes obvious that the people would rather look to their leaders for a scientific explanation instead of seeking salvation inside of the ark, we are told to slowly push the door of the ark closed in such a way that no human would be able to open it. We are heartsick that Satan is now enjoying an apparent victory because the people would not listen to us, no matter how hard we tried to get their attention. Jesus tries to comfort us by telling us that it was not our fault that the people chose not to listen to us even though we valiantly did everything possible in our power to make sure every person had ample opportunities to accept our free invitation to be saved. We and the Godhead are very deeply hurt that the coming flood will destroy the lives all of our human friends whom we have grown to love even though they did not choose to love us back. While Noah and his family are inside the ark safely behind the divinely closed door, the people outside are still trying to explain the miraculous events of the last few hours. They believe that Noah’s last warnings were not as life-threatening as he made them out to be, since the sun is shining as freely as it had always done in the past. That evening the moon and stars faithfully lit the sky without a hint of anything amiss in nature. This trend of normalcy continued for a whole week. Soon the people began concluding that Noah was just some old fool who had tried to deceive them because they had never seen rain before, nor had the movements or appearance of the clouds deviated from the patterns that had been observed for almost two millennia. The mobs that were cruel to Noah before he entered the ark just carried on their cruelties to new heights. They seemed to take pleasure in taunting Noah and his family and making his life in the ark as miserable as possible. Day after day for that entire week we were sent to protect the ark and its inhabitants from any malicious act that would prevent the ark from safely navigating through the flood waters that were soon to cover the planet. Finally on the seventh day after Noah and his family had entered the ark, the command came from the heavenly throne room to release the water suspended above the atmosphere and gathered below the earth’s surface. Destructive lightning strikes and deafening thunder peals preceded the raindrops falling from the clouds which were rapidly covering the sky. At first the rain was light, but as the dark clouds above thickened, it increasingly picked up momentum until the steady downpour began to overflow the banks of the rivers. Even as the plains start to flood and searching for higher ground becomes essential for survival, the people still think that they would be able to cling to the sides of the ark or even persuade Noah to let them in so they could ride to safety. The people and the animals are roaming the surface of the earth desperately looking for higher ground that is not cluttered with debris. They are forsaking the safety of their homes and are running for their lives in every direction while trying to avoid being killed by the rocks and trees that are being catapulted from the earth by the force of the geysers erupting from deep under the ground and powerfully thrusting through the earth’s crust to the surface. The debris caught in these geysers is flung into the air so high that by the time it falls back to its final resting position, it has been buried several feet under the layer of mud which is now covering the planet. We cringe and feel heartsick as we listen to the desperate screams and cries of the people and animals who are being swept off their feet and washed away, never to be seen again. Even the ones who try to fasten themselves to the ark with chains or ropes eventually lose their grip and are caught in the swirling waters beneath them. Even though it pains us to watch the massive destruction that is causing such an enormous amount of pain and suffering, we are confident that God is sending this worldwide flood out of mercy to the planet and the future human race. It has become evident through the centuries that the people’s obsession with doing things their own way would eventually destroy not only their own race, but the rest of God’s creation as well. Not only is the Godhead is being merciful by ending their misery now rather than waiting until they are on the verge of self-destruction, but They are also ensuring that one day Jesus will still be able to be born into the world for the people’s salvation from eternal destruction. The fact that there is still a chance that some of the people who are dying in the flood will be able to live with us because this is only their first death consoles us a little bit. We know that Jesus will be perfectly fair when it comes to deciding the eternal destiny of the people. After all, He knows their hearts and minds better than even they know themselves since He was their Creator and existed before the formation of the genetic line that helped to shape who they are. The rain storm continues to rage for days on end. As we strategically place ourselves between the ark and the pounding waves with debris sharp enough to wreak havoc on the ark, we watch from the corner of our eyes as Satan and his followers fly about desperately trying to find a place where they can rest their weary minds. We can actually see the fear for their own survival written on their faces. They are probably wondering if God might be trying to kill them along with the humans and the animals. We are tempted to laugh at them, but secretly we are glad that they are so afraid because they are more focused on themselves than trying to make our job more difficult than it already is. We cannot let ourselves get distracted from our mission of carrying the boat to safety. The rough water continues to threaten the ark’s upright position so we have to constantly be on guard and ready to catch the boat when it starts to lean.

We are troubled by how quickly and thoroughly a person’s attitudes toward God can be changed because of Satan’s lies, but we are also reassured by God’s merciful and fair dealings with every person in spite of what they might think of the Godhead. When Jesus announces that He is going to personally visit Cain, who is one of our human friends in danger of permanently allowing his feelings to be ruled by Satan, we rush to the edge of heaven to see how Jesus is going to treat him. Jesus and Azaziah both try to persuade Cain to give God the permission necessary to replace the rage swelling in his heart against his brother, Abel, with humility before the uncontrolled anger causes him to do something he would regret later. Cain’s face softens as he listens to Jesus’ pleading arguments, but then hardens again as Satan tempts him to believe that his problems will be over if he just gets rid of Abel, the blamed peace destroyer. Tears flow from our eyes when Cain decides to follow Satan’s advice. With a heavy heart, Jesus goes back to personally encourage Cain to confess his sin before it is too late. Although Cain does not repent, Jesus, mercifully gives him another chance by putting a mark on his forehead to protect his life from being presumptuously taken by those who might try to test God. We listen closely as God firmly but gently assuages Cain’s fears of facing the future with a promise that anyone who kills him would be avenged seven times. We are convinced that Jesus only made that promise to Cain out of His compassionate love for him because the knowledge that we and the Godhead must forever be shut out of his life from now on is very painful. God’s compassion toward human beings continues to amaze us as we watch Him interact with them during the countless struggles that ensue. After Abel’s death, many more of our human friends die and struggle under Satan’s ever-increasing tyranny. We and the Godhead try to minimize the effects of Satan’s captive rule by continually pouring out glimpses of God’s love, character and mission to the earth. However, because of the heavy burdens that the battle-worn earthlings are constantly carrying around with them, they are not as receptive to the light of God as they were created to be. We wish with all of our hearts that we could simply ease their struggle by removing the heavy burdens for them, but we cannot afford to put ourselves in a position where we could later be blamed for removing their burdens against their will. So, we must find Godly people who would mirror the light from the Godhead in their own lives and share every bit of dark-dispelling truth they have with the oppressed multitudes. God’s love and mercy requires that every person in those multitudes is given as many opportunities as possible to choose between keeping the chains of darkness and continuing to live in their current condition or abandoning them in order to receive the light of freedom. We are ecstatic to share the gigantic task of publicizing the truth about God to every nook and cranny of the world with the few human friends who have decided to help us; however, as the population on the earth continues to grow by leaps and bounds, we realize that God’s plan to save the world from the darkness that is quickly enveloping it is much more comprehensive and long-term. The first promise of an opportunity to freely receive salvation from eternal death has already been delivered to the universe, but we and our human friends must still continue to work as fast and furiously as possible while we wait to find out when and how God will fulfill that promise.

Jesus, as gently and firmly as possible under the circumstances, tells them that they are no longer allowed to have access to the Garden of Eden because they cannot eat from the Tree of Life in their current condition. However they have the freedom to cultivate and live in the rest of the earth as they please. The soil and vegetation is more difficult to care for than they had been used to before but they do not complain because God has been more than merciful to them by offering them a way out. Behind the scenes, Satan is gloating at his success. He has now become ruler of the planet earth and the Godhead has reduced access to His creation. He sits down to develop his ideas of how he wants to govern the world that he has just usurped. But a nagging question keeps interrupting his train of thought. Just exactly how and when is Jesus planning to come to this earth to take back what was originally His? He rallies his followers and tells them to be his eyes and ears and to report back to him everything they see and hear that even remotely resembles the coming of Jesus. The throne room of heaven constantly buzzes with new messages of comfort and courage for Adam and Eve who do not share our heavenly vantage point from where we can observe the activities of Satan and his followers. Azaziah and Shylah fervently deliver messages to remind Adam and Eve of the hidden foe’s mission to somehow sabotage God’s promise of sending Jesus to take their sins and guilt on His shoulders by dying in their place. Azaziah and Shylah’s messages also bring a renewal of strength to our heavenly friends who are standing guard at the gate of the Garden of Eden to protect the Tree of Life from Satan who is trying to immortalize his rule over the planet by deceiving a human being into eating its fruit. We perceive that Satan is thinking that if he is somehow able to permanently defend his rulership, then Jesus will not be able to come to the earth to save the human race and he will get the retribution he thinks he deserves from the Godhead. The thought of Jesus innocently taking on the punishment of death that Adam and Eve deserve weighs heavily on their minds as they walk by the gate of the Garden of Eden. They often stop to talk to the guardians of the gate and renew their devotion to the God of the universe who reveals His presence to them there. Through the visits from Azaziah and Shylah, the conversations with the guardians at the gate, and God, Adam and Eve learn that when they feel overwhelmed by thoughts of guilt and self-hatred they must not depend on their own strength, but rather divine help to overcome those feelings and to refocus their eyes on Jesus’ promise of redemption instead of their insufficiencies. Unfortunately, by the time a couple of generations have been born into the world Satan has already been able to masterfully turn people’s attention away from God and toward themselves by using the information he has gathered from carefully watching and testing his theories on Adam and Eve and their children. People’s shame and guilt have been one of the mediums through which he has been able to successfully exploit his skills time and time again. We have observed that when people feel ashamed of who they are or guilty for things in their past, they seem to be much more likely to believe Satan’s insidious lies that whatever mistakes they have made will make them become less acceptable to God; so therefore, they conclude, they must use their own strength or creativity to somehow prove they are worthy to receive God’s forgiveness! Sadly, the people caught in these lies will oftentimes eventually turn their backs on God because they believe they will never be good enough to keep God’s favor, which leads them to the false conclusion that they can never be loved or accepted by God. Satan boasts that he can now more easily use these poor souls to misrepresent God to others in their circle of influence. We feel so sorry for our human friends who fall into this deceptive trap because they tend to unmercifully injure themselves and others both physically and emotionally without ever satisfying their need for God’s true forgiveness or His unconditional love.

In the meantime, while we are taking our own tour of the garden, we stumble across a little patch of wooded area where Satan has gathered his troops and is without remorse afflicting the already miserable angels with of his ideas of getting even with the Godhead by somehow deceiving Adam and Eve into believing that God does not love them as much as He claims. He tells his followers that he has not quite got everything figured out yet, but that he is going off to spend some time alone where he can think through his plans. He marches off with the words “you be ready to move when I return” trailing behind him and leaving a burning sensation in the ears of all his hearers, including ours. We feel so sorry for those angels, but we know the Godhead gave them, and Satan, every opportunity to return if they chose to turn from their original decision. After our visit with Adam and Eve, we all come back to heaven to talk with the Godhead about what we observed and heard on earth. While Jesus and the Father talk amongst themselves about their next move in the controversy, we marvel at God’s compassion toward the two earthly humans who have to deal with the undeserved backlash of Satan’s wrath toward the Godhead. God could just leave them alone so He wouldn’t have to deal with Satan personally, but from our understanding, He is willing to give every drop of strength and support from His entire kingdom on their behalf, if it was necessary. We are curious about what our part is going to be in helping to win the great war. After a few moments, Jesus turns to us and announces that the Godhead has given each one of us a special assignment in Their universal kingdom to complement our particular interests and talents. He goes on to say that Azaziah* and Shylah*, two of our trustworthy members, have been specifically chosen to become the primary messengers between heaven and earth from this point forward, to inform Adam and Eve of the Great Controversy between Him and Satan, and also to warn them of the danger they would place the entire universe in if they choose to listen to Satan instead of trusting in God’s all-sacrificing love and continual care for their every need. Jesus explains to us that the fruit on the tree in the middle of the garden of Eden will be Adam and Eve’s simple test of loyalty. You see, they must prove that they are able to trust God to help them follow His basic instructions of staying in each other’s company at all times and keeping away from that tree. If they lean on God’s help to pass that test, they will have proven to the universe that they love God and His kingdom enough to do anything He asks without following the round-about path of Lucifer. If they follow their guidance from God, they will become incorporated into the heavenly family and the universe will never again be subjected to the temptations of Satan. While we watch from heaven with intense interest, Jesus goes down to the earth to meet with Satan and to discuss with him in no uncertain terms the rules that he must play by until he gains rulership of the world. Jesus very clearly states that the only place he will be allowed to physically enter into Adam and Eve’s world is in that tree at the very center of the garden. “But”, says Jesus, as if to give him the advantage, “you may use any method you choose to manifest yourself to them.” He then attaches the catch by firmly saying, “However, you must not disturb Adam and Eve when they are walking by in other’s company or simply looking for something to eat”. We stare at Satan in disbelief as he defiantly turns to face Jesus with arms folded boldly across his chest, an angry stare in his steady eyes, and lips formed into a sharp line of determination; but he says nothing, for he realizes from the tone of Jesus’ voice and the look in His eye that no argument, no matter how persuasive, will gain him another inch of room in which he can assert his ideas into the minds of the ruling couple of the earth. The next morning, Azaziah and Shylah receive the signal from Jesus to begin their mission right away. They are so eager to go that they are already almost out the door before Jesus lowers His hand back down to His side. They do not have much time to waste. Adam and Eve must be told the divine message before they have a chance to walk into Satan’s trap without knowing anything about his purpose, or who he is. Adam and Eve are sitting near a little brook teeming with fish and shaded with overhanging ferns. They are so engrossed with observing the delicate, yet swift, movements of the fish, that they do not notice our presence at first. After a few moments they look up expecting to share their thoughts about the fish and the ferns with each other, but are instead surprised to see us. They excitedly try to engage us in conversation about all the things they are learning, but quickly realize that we are not as enthusiastic about hearing about their discoveries as usual. We apologetically inform them that although we would love to converse with them about their findings, we have come with an urgent message. They courteously allow us to speak without interruption, so we set before them the whole story of the Great Controversy between their beloved Godhead and the fallen enemy of the universe, Satan. We make a special point to tell them how God will do anything and everything in His power to prevent them from falling into Satan’s trap of deception; “however, we remind them, “since God is a God of love, by His nature He will not be able force you to stay away from that tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the middle of the garden. The result of the test at the tree will declare to the universe which side of the battle you are deciding to cast your loyalty.” After listening intently, Adam and Eve agree to remain loyal to God by heeding all the warnings Azaziah and Shylah have brought to them from heaven’s throne. * Azaziah and Shylah are fictitious names of angels. Azaziah is a male name that means 'he whom God gives strength' and Shylah is a female name that means 'loyal to god, strong'.