Lessons of Faith from Joshua

Heirs of Promises, Prisoners of Hope

Lesson #9 for November 29, 2025

Scriptures:Genesis 3:17-24; Deuteronomy 6:3; Joshua 13:1-7; Hebrews 12:28; Leviticus 25:1-5,8-13; Ezekiel 37:14,25.

1. Heirs of what promises? Prisoners of what hope?
2. God has been concerned with humans having land and being and feeling at home. He created the Garden of Eden for the first couple. He promised Abram/Abraham a new land. He divided Canaan among the tribes and families before it was even conquered. After the exile, those few who chose to return to Jerusalem were given land. We are promised a “heavenly Canaan.” Were the Israelites thinking of Eden as they were preparing to enter Canaan? Are we preparing for “Eden restored” in the heavenly Canaan?

[From the Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide=T-BSG:] The Scriptures emphasize the connection between God’s people and the land, from the beginning to the end. The land is an important topic in the study of first things (protology) and in the study of last things (eschatology) in the Bible. In this … lesson, the theological dimension of the land was examined from the perspective of the conquest. In the central part of the book of Joshua, after describing the initial takeover of the land, the author deals with the division of the land among the 12 tribes. While some readers may find the geographical details tedious, they are crucial in conveying the book’s message, demonstrating how God is keeping the promise made to Israel’s forefathers.—T-BSG* 119.^†‡ [Do we need homes even today?]^‡

[T-BSG:] In this context, the land is a literal and physical entity, a place where Israel could write a new chapter. However, as the story of redemption unfolds, the typological character of the land becomes more apparent. After hundreds of years, Israel itself faces exile, and the hope of a return is kindled during the Babylonian captivity. [Only 1-2% of the Jews returned home!] Judah does return to the land but does not find permanent rest. Such a rest can be found only in the Messiah’s accomplishments. In Jesus, the present reality of spiritual rest does not annul the future literal home-coming, when God’s people will possess the land again. In Jesus, the current reality of spiritual rest does not negate the future literal return to the land. In the meantime, we live as refugees exiled from our true home, journeying toward our actual land that is defined, not by geographical confines, but by God’s dwelling among His people.—T-BSG* 119.^‡ [God will live with us someday.]^‡

The Theology of the Land: From Creation to the “New Creation”

3. There has been much and still will be more to come between creation and “the new creation.” The following chart (modified from T-BSG* 119) “summarizes the biblical theology of the land from Genesis to Revelation.”

Eden: God’s “Original” Plan for This Earth

4. What was God’s original plan for this earth?

[T-BSG:] In God’s original plan, humanity was designed to subdue the earth (Gen. 1:28) and dwell in a place of eternal pleasure called the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:8), where Adam and Eve could enjoy direct contact with Him (Gen. 3:8). In this sedentary state, they would enjoy eternal life, conditional upon their loyalty to the Creator.—T-BSG* 120.^‡§

Genesis 1:28: [The Lord] blessed them, and said, “Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.”—American Bible Society. (©1992). The Holy Bible: The Good News Translation^®* [GNT] (Today’s English Version) [TEV], Second Edition,Genesis 1:28). Philadelphia: American Bible Society [abbreviated as Good News Bible-TEV* or GNB-TEV*].^‡ [Was Eden to expand to all this earth?]^‡

Genesis 2:8,15: ⁸Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed…. [Was that east of Palestine?]

¹⁵Then the Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it.—Good News Bible-TEV.*^‡

The Fall and Its Consequences

Genesis 3:8: That evening they heard the Lord God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees.—Good News Bible-TEV.*

[T-BSG:] Sin [in heaven and then on this earth] disrupted this original plan, leading to the first displacement in human history. Under judgment, Adam and Eve experienced exile, moving out from the Garden (Gen. 3:23, 24). From a theological point of view, movement from the place designed by God marked the consequence of disobedience. In this sense, the first family became also the first spiritual refugees, living as nomads, waiting to return.—T-BSG* 119-121.^†‡§

Genesis 3:17-24: ¹⁷ And he said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate the fruit which I told you not to eat. Because of what you have done, the ground will be under a curse. You will have to work hard all your life to make it produce enough food for you. ¹⁸It will produce weeds and thorns, and you will have to eat wild plants. ¹⁹You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again.”

²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all human beings. ²¹And the Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them.

²² Then the Lord God said, “Now these human beings have become like one of us and have knowledge of what is good and what is bad. They must not be allowed to take fruit from the tree that gives life, eat it, and live forever.” ²³So the Lord God sent them out of the Garden of Eden and made them cultivate the soil from which they had been formed. ²⁴Then at the east side of the garden he put living creatures and a flaming sword which turned in all directions. This was to keep anyone [including Satan and his angels] from coming near the tree that gives life.—GNB-TEV.*^†‡

5. What were the consequences of the fall as far as a living space for the first human couple?

[From the writings of Ellen G. White=EGW:] Satan made his exulting boasts to Christ and to loyal angels that he had succeeded in gaining a portion of the angels in Heaven to unite with him in his daring rebellion. And now that he had succeeded in overcoming Adam and Eve, he claimed that their Eden home was his. He proudly boasted that the world which God had made was his dominion. Having conquered Adam, the monarch of the world, he had gained the race as his subjects, and he should now possess Eden, and make that his head-quarters. And he would there establish his throne, and be monarch of the world. [Satan was hoping to live forever!]

But measures were immediately taken in Heaven to defeat Satan in his plans. Strong angels, with beams of light representing flaming swords turning in every direction, were placed as sentinels to guard the way of the tree of life from the approach of Satan and the guilty pair…. Adam was to be exposed to the temptations of Satan while he lived, and was to finally pass through death to dust again.—Ellen G. White, The Review and Herald,* February 24, 1874, par. 19-20.^†‡ [Satan’s one place in the Garden of Eden was very near the tree of life. After his successful encounter with humans, Satan immediately tried to get to the tree of life so that he could take of the fruit and live forever!]^‡

[https://egwwritings.org/read?panels=p821.1714&index=0]^‡

[From the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide=BSG:] At Creation, God placed Adam and Eve in a perfect environment that embodied abundance and beauty. The first human couple met their Creator in the setting of a lovely living space that could provide for all their physical needs. In addition to the spoken word of God, the Garden of Eden served as a learning center where Adam and Eve gained significant insight into God’s character and the life He intended for them. Therefore, when they broke the trusting relationship with their Creator, their relationship with the Garden of Eden changed as well, and as a sign of the broken relationship, they had to leave the garden. They lost the territory that God had given to them. Thus, the Garden of Eden became the symbol of abundant life, and we will rediscover its motifs in the theme of the Promised Land.—BSG* for Sunday, November 23.^†‡

Abraham and the Gift of the Land of Promise

6. We have little information about what actually happened between the fall of Adam and Eve and the time of Abraham. How did Abram/Abraham look at God’s promises of the land that he was to inherit? Even Abram’s family had become pagans!

Genesis 12:1: The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s home, and go to a land that I am going to show you.”—Good News Bible-TEV.* [What did Abram say to Sarai?]^‡

7. ConsiderGenesis 13:14-15; 26:3,24; 28:13; Hebrews 6:11-15.

Genesis 13:14-15: ¹⁴ After Lot had left, the Lord said to Abram, “From where you are, look carefully in all directions. ¹⁵I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours forever.”—Good News Bible-TEV.*^†

Genesis 26:3,24: ³ [To Isaac:] “Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham….

²⁴That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid; I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my promise to my servant Abraham.”—Good News Bible-TEV.*^‡ [Imagine waking up to find God talking to you!]^‡

Genesis 28:13: And there was the Lord standing beside him. “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac,” he said. “I will give to you [Jacob] and to your descendants this land on which you are lying.”—Good News Bible-TEV.*^‡

Hebrews 6:11 [-15]: ¹¹Our great desire is that each of you keep up your eagerness to the end, so that the things you hope for will come true….—GNB-TEV.*

8. What can we learn from the experience of Abraham about our own situation? Are we “sojourners” in a land, waiting for a better “land” and promise?

Abraham’s Descendants and Land

[BSG:] As Abraham entered the land God had shown him, by faith that land became the Land of Promise to him and his descendants. It remained the Land of Promise for 400 years. The patriarchs did not really own the land; it was not theirs in such a way that they were able to give it to their children as an inheritance. Rather, it belonged to God, as the Garden of Eden had belonged to Him. As Adam and Eve did not do anything that entitled them to the Garden of Eden, Israel had not contributed anything to deserve the land either. The Promised Land was a gift of God based on His initiative. Israel had no inherent right or claim to own the land (Deut. 9:4–6); it was only by God’s grace that the Israelites could possess it.—BSG* for Sunday, November 23.^†‡§

Deuteronomy 9:4-6: ⁴ “After the Lord your God has driven them out for you, do not say to yourselves that he brought you in to possess this land because you deserved it. No, the Lord is going to drive these people out for you because they are wicked…. ⁶You can be sure that the Lord is not giving you this fertile land because you deserve it. No, you are a stubborn people.”—Good News Bible-TEV.*^†

9. As God’s end-time people, don’t we have a land that we are waiting to inherit?

[T-BSG:] The first sign of a possible return appeared in Abraham’s call, in which God commanded him: “ ‘Go out from your land . . . to the land that I will show you’ ” (Gen. 12:1, LEB [See Item #6 above from the GNB-TEV.*]). In salvation history, the importance of Abraham’s call can be appreciated only when one realizes that it marked a transition from judgment to promise. Although Abraham’s family remained nomadic for several centuries, his obedience set in motion a journey toward the Promised Land. Along the way, Abraham experienced periods of exile….

The [more than] 400-year pilgrimage of Abraham’s children finished with the 40-year journey in the wilderness, where Moses’ final speech, in Deuteronomy, prepared Israel to transition from promise to restoration, from a nomadic to a sedentary state. Theologically, Joshua led Israel in returning to God’s land. This return does not signify that Canaan is the actual location of the Garden of Eden. God’s land is not defined by geographical boundaries but rather by His presence in its midst (Exod. 25:8,Exod. 33:14).—T-BSG* 120-121.^†‡§ [If God had left them in Canaan in Jacob’s day, they would have melted into Canaanite society!]^‡

Exodus 25:8: “The people must make a sacred Tent for me, so that I may live among them. ⁹Make it and all its furnishings according to the plan that I will show you.”—Good News Bible-TEV.*^† [It is God’s land when He is with us.]^‡

The Land As a Gift; Then, Challenges

Exodus 3:8: “And so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land, one which is rich and fertile.”—Good News Bible-TEV.*

Leviticus 20:22: The Lord said, “Keep all my laws and commands, so that you will not be rejected by the land of Canaan [as the Canaanites were rejected!], into which I am bringing you.”—Good News Bible-TEV.*^‡

Numbers 13:27: They told Moses, “We explored the land and found it to be rich and fertile; and here is some of its fruit.”—Good News Bible-TEV.*

Deuteronomy 4:1,25-26: ¹Then Moses said to the people, “Obey all the laws that I am teaching you, and you will live and occupy the land which the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you….

²⁵ “Even when you have been in the land a long time and have children and grandchildren, do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all. This is evil in the Lord’s sight, and it will make him angry. ²⁶I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that, if you disobey me, you will soon disappear from the land. You will not live very long in the land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. You will be completely destroyed.”—Good News Bible-TEV.*^†

Deuteronomy 6:3: “Listen to them, people of Israel, and obey them! Then all will go well with you, and you will become a mighty nation and live in that rich and fertile land, just as the Lord, the God of our ancestors, has promised.”—Good News Bible-TEV.*

Psalm 24:1: The world and all that is in it belong to the Lord;

the earth and all who live on it are his.—Good News Bible-TEV.*

10. These passages make it very clear that God was and is the Owner of the land, and He was giving the land to Israel as partners to work with them.

[BSG:] At a very basic level, land offers physical identity to a nation. By locating the nation, it also determines the occupation and lifestyle of the nation. Slaves were rootless and belonged nowhere; someone else enjoyed the results of their work. Having land meant freedom. The identity of the chosen people was linked strongly to their dwelling in the land.

There was a special relationship among God, Israel, and the land. Israel received the land from God as a gift, not as an inalienable right. The chosen people could own the land as long as they were in a covenantal relationship with Yahweh [sic] and respected the precepts of the covenant. In other words, they could not have the land and its blessings without the blessing of God.―BSG* for Monday, November 24.^†‡

[BSG:] At the same time, it is true that the land provided a lens through which the Israelites could better understand God. Living in the land would always remind them of a faithful, promise-keeping, and trustworthy God. Neither the land nor Israel would have existed without the initiative of God, who was the Source and foundation of their existence. While the Israelites were in Egypt, the Nile and the irrigation system, coupled with hard work, provided the crops that they needed for subsistence. Canaan was different. They depended on rain for the abundance of their harvests, and it was only God who could control the weather. Thus, the land reminded the people of their constant dependence on God.

Even if Israel received the land as a gift from Yahweh [sic], in the ultimate sense, God Himself remained the owner. As the true owner of the whole earth (Ps. 24:1 [See Item #9 above.]), Yahweh [sic] has the right to assign the land to Israel or to take it away. If God is the owner of the land, the Israelites and, by extension, all humans are strangers and sojourners, or in modern terminology, we are all God’s long-term guests on His land/earth.―BSG* for Monday, November 24.^†‡§

11. After God gave Israel victory over Sihon and Og on the east side of the Jordan River, He then gave victory over Jericho and then Ai and other territory. Clearly, the land needed to be divided fairly among the different tribes in the eyes of everyone who was to dwell there.

Joshua 13:1-7: ¹Joshua was now very old. The Lord said to him, “You are very old, but there is still much land to be taken: ²all the territory of Philistia and Geshur, ³as well as all the territory of the Avvim to the south. (The land from the stream of Shihor, at the Egyptian border, as far north as the border of Ekron was considered Canaanite; the kings of the Philistines lived at Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.) ⁴There is still all the Canaanite country, and Mearah (which belonged to the Sidonians), as far as Aphek, at the Amorite border; ⁵the land of the Gebalites; all of Lebanon to the east, from Baalgad, which is south of Mount Hermon, to Hamath Pass. ⁶This includes all the territory of the Sidonians, who live in the hill country between the Lebanon Mountains and Misrephoth Maim. I will drive all these peoples out as the people of Israel advance. You must divide the land among the Israelites, just as I have commanded you to do. ⁷Now then, divide this land among the other nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh, for them to possess as their own.”—Good News Bible-TEV.*^†

[BSG:] Joshua 13 through 21 deals with the division of the land to the various tribes of Israel. This allotment tells the Israelites not only what has been apportioned to them but also what still must be occupied within that territory. The Israelites can securely live in the land that God has given to them as an inheritance. They are the rightful and legitimate tenants of the land under God’s ownership. Yet, God’s initiative must be matched by human response. The first half of the book [of Joshua] shows how God gave the land by dispossessing the Canaanites; the second half reports on how Israel took the land by settling it.—BSG* for Tuesday.^†‡

[T-BSG:] Thus, the book of Joshua also marks an important transition in salvation history when God’s people were to subdue the land and enjoy rest. Unfortunately, within just one generation, Israel started living in disobedience, and their hold on the land became tenuous (Judg. 2:10–13). From the time of Judges to 2 Kings, Israel struggled most of the time to maintain control over the land.—T-BSG* 121.^‡§

[BSG:] This complexity of the conquest illustrates the dynamics of our salvation. Similar to Israel, we cannot do anything to earn our salvation (Eph. 2:8, 9). It is a gift, just as the land was God’s gift to the Israelites based on their covenantal relationship with Him. It certainly wasn’t based on their merits (seeDeut. 9:5).

However, for the Israelites to enjoy God’s gift, they had to assume all the responsibilities that came with living in the land, just as we have to go through the process of our sanctification in loving obedience to the requirements of being citizens of God’s kingdom. Though not the same thing, the parallel between their being given the land by grace and our being given salvation by grace are close enough. We have been given a wonderful gift, but it is something that we can forfeit if we are not careful.—BSG* for Tuesday, November 25.^†‡§

Keep the Land Forever: The Jubilee

Leviticus 25:23: Your land must not be sold on a permanent basis, because you do not own it; it belongs to God, and you are like foreigners who are allowed to make use of it.—Good News Bible-TEV.*^†

12. The Jubilee was very important in Jewish history. After having assigned territory to each family shortly after crossing the Jordan River, they were to maintain that territory and to never allow it to leave them permanently. Each 50 years (at the Jubilee), all land was to be returned to its original Israelite owner.
13. Remember the experience of Joseph and the Egyptians at the time of the famine in Egypt. Eventually, all of the Egyptians became servants, almost slaves, of the Pharaoh. That was never to happen to God’s people.

[BSG:] The allotment of the land becomes a window into God’s heart. As our heavenly Father, He wants His children to be generous with those who are less fortunate and to allow their lands to feed them [the less fortunate] every seventh year. The sabbatical year applied the principle of the Sabbath commandment on a larger scale. Besides valuing and encouraging hard work, ownership of the land also calls for respect and kindness to those facing financial challenges…. [Could this work in our day?]

In essence, this is the main purpose of the gospel: to erase the distinction between rich and poor, employer and employee, privileged and underprivileged, putting us all on equal footing by recognizing our complete need of God’s grace.

Unfortunately, Israel neglected to keep the standard set by God and, after centuries, the warnings of dispossession were fulfilled (2 Chron. 36:20, 21).—BSG* for Wednesday, November 26.^†‡§

[BSG:] How can the principles of the Israelite land allotment and the Sabbath remind us that, in God’s eyes, we are all equal? How can the Sabbath help us say “no” to the exploitative, vicious cycles of consumerism that plague many societies?—BSG* for Wednesday, November 26.^‡

The Exile and Then, the Land “Restored” after the Babylonian Captivity

[T-BSG:] God sent prophets to warn His people about the impending judgment because of breaking the covenant, but they did not listen (Jer. 7:23–27). Under judgment, Israel and Judah were exiled from the place God had designed for them (2 Kings 17:7–40,2 Kings 25:1–26). During the exile, they became nomadic once again, leaving the land and going in the opposite direction of Abraham (Psalm 137).—T-BSG* 121.^†‡§

[T-BSG:] However, the exile was not meant to last more than 70 years (Jer. 25:11, 12)…. The two Mosaic figures of Ezra and Nehemiah led God’s people back to [possess] Canaan again, with the promise that God would bless their efforts to restore Jerusalem. From Babylon, now a Persian province, [estimated about 1-2% of] God’s people made a pilgrimage toward the land (Ezra 1, Nehemiah 2). Despite encountering strong opposition (Ezra 4), the people ultimately succeeded in reconstructing Jerusalem (Nehemiah 11, 12). However, throughout the whole process, Ezra and Nehemiah needed to fight against the apostasy.—T-BSG* 121.^†‡§

14. Do we face challenges which are similar to those that the returning exiles faced?

[BSG:] During the Babylonian exile, the Israelites experienced not only the sad reality of being rootless but also the promise that their relationship with God, though made concrete through the promise of the land, was not conditioned on, and limited to, possessing the land. When the Israelites confessed their sins, repented, and looked for the Lord with all their hearts, God fulfilled His promise again, and He brought them back to their land as a sign of their restoration. That is, He was still their God, even while they were not in the land.—BSG* for Thursday November 27.^†‡

[BSG:] However, as the promise that Israel would possess the land forever was conditional (Deut. 28:63, 64; Josh. 23:13, 15; 1 Kings 9:7; 2 Kings 17:23; Jer. 12:10–12), so was the promise to resettle and make Israel prosper in the land after the exile. At the same time, prophets of the Old Testament pointed to a restoration that a future Davidic king would bring (Isa. 9:6, 7; Zech. 9:9, 16). This promise was fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in whom all the promises to ancient Israel would have their fulfillment.—BSG* for Thursday, November 27.^†‡§

[T-BSG:] With the coming of the Messiah, light shone again. The first verse of the New Testament already showed that Jesus represented a new beginning for humanity (Matt. 1:1). Jesus came to overcome where Adam had been defeated. Christ’s rejection of the devil’s [sic] offer to give Him all the kingdoms of the earth does not mean that Jesus would not conquer these kingdoms: it simply shows that He would conquer them in God’s way (Matt. 4:8–10). As a new Adam, He became the ruler of all nations whose kingdom will not pass (1 Cor. 15:22–26). This universalization of the land is evident in the concept of the kingdom of God, which Jesus inaugurated.… What the New Testament does is spell out when and how the promises would be fulfilled.—T-BSG* 122.^†‡§

[BSG:] In the New Testament, the Promised Land is not mentioned directly, but we are told that the promises of God have been fulfilled in and through Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1:20,Rom. 15:8). Thus, in the light of Christ, the land is reinterpreted, and it becomes the symbol of the spiritual blessings that God plans to give to His faithful people here and now (Eph. 2:6) and in the hereafter.—BSG* for Thursday, November 27.^‡§

Our Ultimate Hope and Promise

15. Consider verses such asJohn 14:1-3; Titus 2:13; andRevelation 21:1-3 which point to the ultimate hope that we have for our futures.

[BSG:] The ultimate fulfillment of the divine promise of rest, abundance, and well-being in the land will take place on the new earth, liberated from sin and its consequences. In that sense, as Christians, our hope is based on Christ’s promise that He will return and, after a 1,000-year period in heaven, establish His eternal kingdom on the earth made new. This will be the ultimate fulfillment of all the promises about the land.—BSG* for Thursday November 27.^†‡

[EGW:] It is not enough to believe what is preached; the truth must be brought into the temple of the soul. Holiness is not rapture; it is the result of surrendering all to God; it is living by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God; it is doing the will of our Heavenly Father; it is trusting in God in trial, believing in his promise in the darkness as well as in the light. Religion is to walk by faith as well as by sight, trusting in God with all confidence, and resting in his love. We shall be saved eternally when we enter in through the gates into the city. Then we may rejoice that we are saved, eternally saved. But until then we need to heed the injunction of the apostle, and to “fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of us should seem to come short of it.” Having a knowledge of Canaan, singing the songs of Canaan, rejoicing in the prospect of entering into Canaan, did not bring the children of Israel into the vineyards and olive-groves of the promised land. They could make it theirs in truth only by occupation, by complying with the conditions, by exercising living faith in God, by appropriating his promises to themselves. As we draw nigh to Christ, and as he draws nigh to the believing soul, we can say, with all confidence: “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” [2 Timothy 1:12, KJV*]—Ellen G. White, The Youth’s Instructor,* February 17, 1898, par. 2.^†‡

[https://egwwritings.org/read?panels=p469.2784&index=0]^‡

[EGW:] In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called “a country.”Hebrews 11:14-16. There the heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. The tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations. There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. There the wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits. On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God’s people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home.—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy* 675.1.^‡

[https://egwwritings.org/read?panels=p132.3047&index=0]^‡

16. What is your idea of the “future promised land” to be given to God’s faithful people? Have you studied what the Bible and Ellen White say about that place? Do you think the Garden of Eden is the closest example we have of what is coming?
17. It was God’s plan for us to live forever in Eden. Our time on this earth is supposed to be just preparation for our lives in eternity. Is that the way we think about our lives today? Are we so concerned about what is going to happen to us here and now that eternity tends to fade away?

©2025, Kenneth Hart, MD, MA, MPH. Permission is hereby granted for any noncommercial use of these materials. *Electronic version. ^†Bold type is added. ^‡Brackets and content in brackets are added. ^§Italic type is in the source.      Last Modified: November 14, 2025                       Email: Info@theox.org