Sin and cockroaches (this post may contain offensive thoughts)

Many heavenly lessons reside in the creation of Earth. There is much to learn from the creepy creeping things.

 

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” (Gen. 1:24-27).

 

Adam’s race, God’s crowning act of creation on this world, was given power over everything.

 

“For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with power glory and honour.

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.” (Ps. 8:5-8).

 

Thus, Adam, made in God’s image, represented God, specifically God the Father. And Eve represented the Son of God who begat and has nurtured the whole family of heaven and Earth. As Eve was taken from a rib near Adam’s heart, so did God take His only begotten Son out from His bosom.

 

As Eve was made in Adam’s image when she was begotten from Adam and was the mother of a race, so the Son “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell.” (Col. 1:15-19).

 

Man, Adam and Eve (Genesis 5:2), prefiguring the Godhead, reigned over the Earth, as the Godhead reigns over Their universe. That is, until sin robbed man of his dominion. Sin brought us down into the muck of self-exaltation, self-love, self-indulgence, and to accusation and condemnation of others. We have crawled around in that filth ever since.

 

“What mean ye that ye beat My people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:

Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.

In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,

The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,

The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,

The rings, and nose jewels,

The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,

The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.

And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.” (Isa. 3:15-26).

 

Before the Lord destroyed the Israelites by the Assyrians, He made clear through Isaiah their offensiveness to Him. Sin is an offense to God, in all of its forms; and He must destroy it. He can’t stomach it in any part of His kingdom. But, before He destroys sin He will make a great call to come out of it.

 

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24:14).

 

“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” (Rev. 18:1-8).

 

But 2,000 years before God can make the final call to come away from sin, He must send His favorite, Beloved to make the redemption offering for their sinfulness. “A body hast Thou prepared Me.” (Heb. 10:5). Michael, the Prince, must become one like “the son of man.” (Eze. 2:6, cf Dan. 7:13).

 

“Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the [“curse of the” (Gal. 3:13)] law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” (Gal. 4:3-5).

 

Nothing is more detestable than the destruction of the image of God in man by mixing his genes with the lower creations. This caused the destruction of the anteluvian world by the Noahic flood.

 

“If there was one sin above another which called for the destruction of the race by the flood, it was the base crime of amalgamation of man and beast which defaced the image of God, and caused confusion everywhere. God purposed to destroy by a flood that powerful, long-lived race that had corrupted their ways before him. He would not suffer them to live out the days of their natural life, which would be hundreds of years.” 1SP 69.

 

“Every species of animals which God had created was preserved in the ark. The confused species which God did not create, which were the result of amalgamation, were destroyed by the flood. Since the flood, there has been amalgamation of man and beast.” 1SP 78.

 

“Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: and the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.” (Lev. 18:23-25).

 

And the same base crime will cause the world’s destruction again by fire. Genetically modified chemistry is moving into the realm of this very pestilence from the anteluvian world. Under a pretext of benefiting the world with newer, stronger human organs, or vain visual improvements, the great deceiver is pushing the science of genetics closer to the uncertain fields of transgenics.

 

Michael taught the children of Israel to hold the creeping things in revulsion. Except for the vegetarian locust, they were never to eat the insects or even to touch them lest they be defiled. These creatures were designed to control disease by consuming the dead things of the world. They crawled around in filth, and ate filth for food.

 

“And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten. Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination. Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby. For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” (Lev. 11:41-45).

 

“These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind.” (vs. 29).

 

“And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten.” (Deut. 14:19).

 

“Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath; the soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.” (Lev. 22:5,6).

 

Unclean objects of worship caused the people’s minds to feed on filthy insects and rodents and seafood.

 

“They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst eating swing’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.” (Isa. 66:17).

“And He said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they [the Levical priests] do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.” (Eze. 8:9,10).

 

“And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.” (Rom. 1:23).

 

“And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto Him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to Him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.” (Acts 10:11-14).

 

Is there a lesson of eternal ramifications in the creation of the filthy creeping things? I think of the cockroach. Nothing can be more detestable. Yuck! They crawl around in filth, and then invade our living space, bringing their scum with them. They leave a trail of excrement wherever they go. They are extremely bold, coming right up onto the dinner table if they are extremely hungry. And they are more subtle than any insect in the house. I’ve even had one out-maneuver my attempt to trap it in a corner and rid it of my home. I swung from the right, it went to the left and disappeared into thin air.

 

I’ve bombed my place with cans of pesticide, yet the cockroaches survived underneath objects and behind pictures hanging on the walls. I’ve pondered if the only way to destroy them is to burn down my home. But, I wonder if after all my great personal loss, they would still survive. To me, they are the epitome of everything abhorrent.

 

I can’t think of a better physical representation of sin than the cockroach. Surely, teaching that lesson is one reason for their creation! Therefore, they just as much represent sinful mankind in God’s sight. We are filthy. “The heart is...desperately wicked.” (Jer. 17:9). We see no problem with crawling around among habits of the spiritually dead and having a lifestyle of living death. We play with temptation. We parley with the tempter. We have the propensity to handle sin in all its aspects.

 

And what does God think of all that? Infinite and utter abomination. God can’t be tempted with sin because to an infinite degree He foewsaw its wreckage to His children and their loss of eternal life with Him. Therefore He has absolute zero tolerance for it. He will forgive sinners, but He will never forgive sin. He will excuse every humbled and repentant sinner; but He can make no excuses for sin. He hates it with an infinitely perfect passion. And He had this disposition before sin ever came to be, even before its first dawning in Lucifer’s heart.

 

Thus, I conclude that God creating the cockroach was His object lesson to mankind for showing His abhorrence of sin, for a warning to Adam and Eve before temptation should come, and certainly for an exhortation against sin after they fell. As Adam and Eve would loathe roaches, He used roaches to teach them to loathe sin.

 

But, this leads to another conclusion. And I don’t mean that God sees us His children as worthless and detestable; but He does see sin as bankrupt of all value. We must have infinite value in God’s heart since He risked eternally losing His only begotten Son on the cross in order to keep us. His Son who has infinite value. So, I don’t want to completely offend anyone, but an extension of that last thought brings me to the incarnation of Christ into filthy human flesh. It could explain the infinite wrath of God upon His Son’s human form in Gethsemane until Golgotha due to Son’s attachment to us who have departed from His Father’s perfection, in preference for living in sin.

How painful was it for God to incarnate His beautiful, glorious, omnipresent, omniscient Son into inglorious, fallen human flesh, bound for a lifetime object of animosity, and then an ignominious death? The Son’s incarnation must have been the greatest horror and wonder of the angelic hosts. How much abhorrence for His Son’s incarnation into sinful humanity required infinite, infinite grace from God, and then some? We have little appreciation for Christ’s self sacrifice from loss of His original, glorious, infinitely  divine nature, body, soul, and Spirit. How can we? We have never seen it or experienced it. We can’t experience it in all of its extreme supernatural aspects. But, we have something earthly that will help us comprehend a little of the infinite sacrifice of both God and His Son in that permanent change.

Just for our conception of it, can’t we liken Christ’s eternal divine form incarnated into corrupted human flesh to the mixing of human genes and cockroach genes? Couldn’t the incarnation of God into human flesh resemble putting your own child permanently to sleep and then amalgamating your child’s genes with a filthy cockroach in order to reproduce your child in that gross form? Would you ever do that? Would you ever have a cockroach for a child? Would you love your child no less, knowing that part of it had his character traits? How much sacrifice would that require of you? Would you still love that offspring of a cockroach? Would you raise him for saving other cockroaches? Yet, this is what God did so that He could renew His identification with His beloved Adamic race, and reconcile the holy angelic hosts and unfallen worlds to the filthy children of Earth. The Son’s amalgamation would also show us His strong desire to feel our plight in an evil world and win us back to Him.

 

God “hath made [His Son] to be sin for us.” (2Cor. 5:21). Oh! What an utterly horrible thought to the angels! But, might our abhorrence of amalgamating a human and a roach hardly even compare to the unspeakable agony and self-sacrifice that God must have had when the blessed love of His womb, His infinite Son, became finite, housed in a filthy human tabernacle, born into the corruption of a violent, imperialistic world, and growing up among wretched religious fundamentalists who were the habitation of demons and the hold of every foul spirit? Can’t we get a sense of the sacrifice that the Father made when He gave us His Son, forever to bear our human frame? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” (Jn. 3:16).

 

Jesus, who “being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Phil. 2:6-8).

 

Is it no wonder that when God was finally able to destroy sin when He would destroy His Only begotten that He could heap such tonnage of spiritual plasma to utterly extirpate abominable sin, root and branch. Isn’t it grace in all of its infinitude that He crushed the blessed Son of His own bosom who couldn’t be deterred from forever remaining one with our wretched race that crawls in sewage? The Son became a human shield for a world of gross self-indulgence. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” (Jn. 3:14). He made Himself a human lightning rod for God’s revulsion upon Himself to shield a race of abominable, full-blooded cockroaches and to take away their filthiness. I can hear many a Judas crying out, “To what purpose is this waste?” (Matt. 26:8). No doubt there was a hushed horror among the unfallen universe. 

 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (Jn. 3:15-18).

 

“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him,” “when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.” (2Cor. 5:21; Isa. 4:4).

 

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11).

 

“Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isa. 53:12).