The Standing Orders, or, "Because I Say So" --God

I believe that Exodus is the first book of the Pentateuch, not because it begins with an aleph and Genesis begins with a bet, but because Moses learned about God in Exodus. He then put what he learned about God in Genesis, and wisely, humbly put that more important information up front where it couldn't be missed. I noted in Do Not Blame God; The Curse Was OUR Choice: An Open Letter To Michaël that WE CHOSE to live under the curse in order to gain eternal life. "Gotta pay your dues," you might say. This outlandish notion comes from reading Victor Alexander's translation of Genesis 1-3 from the ancient Aramaic (the Peshitta).

I noticed while contemplating these chapters that they end with what I recognize as standing orders: "And so the Lord God ejected him, and there shot up for them from the East of the Paradise of Eden the plants of carob and a perishable life at the edge of the sword, so as there would be one day a return to the way of the Tree of Life* (literal Aramaic idiomatic construction: And ejected him the Lord God, and climb up from the Easterlies the Paradise of Eden carob and the swords teeth and returnable would be to guard the road of the Tree of Life)" (Genesis 3:24 Alexander, emphasis mine).

Ejected on the earth, in ignorance under the curse WE CHOSE, life sucks. Carob is the garbage pods the prodigal son fed the pigs (Luke 15:16). Swords' teeth--thorns and thistles--are the difficulties and futility we have to face in this miserable existence. These are standing orders, the "death" Adam would die if they ate of the Tree of Life which gave knowledge of the good and of the evil. "You want to know the good and the evil like I do? Here ya go! See ya." Standing orders are CONSTANT. A soldier, sailor, airman or marine does not have to be told to wear his or her dog tags at all times, to salute superiors, to behave appropriately--these are STANDING ORDERS: "You WILL do them at all times." (Do you see Murphy's Law? Things have got to go wrong!) BUT THEY ARE T.A.D.—Temporary Assigned Duty.

Well, Adam ate of the tree which gives knowledge of the good and of the evil, the Tree of Life, to have eternal life. Thus we HAVE eternal life, and it is eternally a life that sucks until we get saved (Mark 3:29)--it's a standing order! Jesus Christ took the curse we chose upon Himself and ended it, and now lives to forgive us if we have had enough of it. The Son who will crush the Devil's head is another of the standing orders--He has done the crushing, and is in us with authority to forgive us, because He OWNS us. He is free to do it now, if you would like.

Ferrar Fenton was a scholar who recognized that the "Lord's Prayer" in Matthew 6:6-13 in the Greek language begins with affirming God's standing orders:
Our Father in the Heavens; Your Name must be being Hallowed;
Your Kingdom must be being restored.
Your Will must be being done both in Heaven and upon the Earth.

These standing orders correspond to the standing orders of Genesis. We wanted God's Eternal Life, to that end His Name must be being hallowed. We lost His Kingdom in taking up our own. HIS KINGDOM MUST BE BEING RESTORED. All that we experience in our cursed condition IS TO THAT END--the restoration of God's Kingdom in our lives--His will must be being done throughout the curse.

We chose. We ate. We flipped to the cursed state. We are eternal. We are here in this curse state, but we can be forgiven back to that state. Flipped back, for returnable is the way, this life can be as glorious as any life ever has been. IT IS OUR CHOICE. Choose.