This is a continuation of Paper 29: Commentary on Selected Bible Scriptures, Part II. But first, a few words about the third Garden of Eden that will be provided for those persons who choose to heed the warnings of the forthcoming " great and terrible day of the Lord."

     The beginning chapters of the Book of Genesis provide a very limited amount of information about the first Garden of Eden that Van and his volunteer human helpers prepared. The Urantia Book contains several papers that describe the first Garden and the second Garden. [Papers 73, 74, 75, 76]
     Following are a few comments about our proposed third Garden of Eden.
     It is my understanding that persons who wish to assist the coming Son of God can volunteer to participate in the preparation of the third Garden of Eden. To get some idea of the beauty of this new Garden, I quote from The Urantia Book describing the first Garden of Eden. We certainly want the third Garden to be as beautiful as the first Garden.
     The first Garden of Eden was naturally a dream of loveliness. It was a poem of exquisite and perfected landscape glory. The site chosen for the Garden was probably the most beautiful spot of its kind in all the world . . .
     It was absolutely amazing what Van and his volunteer human helpers accomplished before Adam and Eve arrived about 38,000 years ago. Under Adam's direction the Garden took on new form and assumed new proportions of beauty and grandeur. Adam and Eve were two of the most expert anatomists in our local system of Satania.

[46] Messianic Prophecies of the Old Testament Pertaining to Jesus.
       Most of the so-called Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament were made to apply to Jesus long after his life had been lived on earth. For centuries the Hebrew prophets had proclaimed the coming of a deliverer, and these promises had been construed by successive generations as referring to a new Jewish ruler who would sit upon the throne of David and, by the reputed miraculous methods of Moses, proceed to establish the Jews in Palestine as a powerful nation, free from all foreign domination. Again, many figurative passages found throughout the Hebrew scriptures were subsequently misapplied to the life mission of Jesus. Many Old Testament sayings were so distorted as to appear to fit some episode of the Master's earth life. The early followers of Jesus all too often succumbed to the temptation to make all the olden prophetic utterances appear to find fulfillment in the life of their Lord and Master. [122:4:4]
     As I understand it, the Jews were expecting a Messiah who would reestablish the throne of David, free them from all foreign domination, and elevate them to a powerful nation above all other nations. The Messiah and the Jews would rule the world from Jerusalem. Further, all their daily needs, food, clothing, and other necessities, would be miraculously furnished by the Messiah with no effort on their part.
     Any person who did not meet all these requirements would never be accepted by the Jews as their Messiah. It is obvious that Jesus could never be their Messiah. Further, throughout all eternity there will never appear on any inhabited planet a person fulfilling the requirements of a Messiah as defined by the Jews of those days.
     [On the same day that Jesus miraculously fed the five thousand, and then refused to be their king, almost all in the multitude deserted him and followed him no more. Paper 152:Sections 2,3.]
     As stated in previous papers, on the Day of Armageddon all Mid East countries will vanish from the earth. All expectations of the Jews of the appearance of a Jewish Messiah will become null and void on that day. However, perhaps Elijah, when he arrives, can be considered a Messiah not solely for the Jews but for all survivors.

[47] Brighter Days Ahead, said Ezekiel and Malachi.
       The prophet Ezekiel spoke words that will gladden the hearts of persons who heed the warnings of the coming great and terrible day of the Lord, and who will gather in the third Garden of Eden:
     Ezekiel 36:26,27,33-35: A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments. In the day that I shall have cleansed you from your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And the people shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the Garden of Eden: the vast areas that were laid to waste and the cities that were ruined on the day of the Lord shall become inhabited.
     Apparently it is Elijah who will be a significant force in fulfilling the prophecies of Ezekiel. At Malachi 4:6 there appears the following statement: "And Elijah shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers . . .," and in the process elevate the spiritual achievement of the survivors.
     Of course, the inhabitants of the third Garden of Eden will be unable to bring about these improvements overnight. As the population increases, more and more land will be needed. No doubt Elijah will work with survivors to reclaim, little by little, the areas that became a vast wasteland on the Day of Armageddon.
     Elijah fused with his Thought Adjuster while still in the flesh on earth. Thought Adjusters are a fragment of God. It will be most interesting to observe Elijah's methods as he sets about healing the wounds of the people and the devastated earth. Also, we are told that the explosions on the great and terrible day of the Lord will act as a powerful X-ray upon the DNA of every living thing. How will our DNA be altered? We can hope that our spiritual reception will be enhanced. If so, perhaps improved spiritual reception will enable us to progress spiritually more rapidly.

     Persons who are especially interested in the predictions given by the prophets in the Old Testament might enjoy reading the short Book of Joel. It contains only three chapters and presents some fascinating information.

[48] Amos, the Courageous Prophet.
       Amos, who appeared from among the southern hills, denounced the criminality, drunkenness, oppression, and immorality of the northern tribes. Not since the times of Moses had such ringing truths been proclaimed in Palestine. He attacked the belief in a Divine Being who would countenance sin among his so-called chosen people. In fact, Amos proclaimed a God who thought no differently of the Hebrews than of any other nation when it came to the punishment of wrongdoing. This was a direct attack on the egoistic doctrine of the "chosen people" concept, and many Hebrews of those days bitterly resented it. Amos proclaimed many new and startling truths about Yahweh. Among other pronouncements, he warned that ritual must not take the place of righteousness. For his efforts, he was stoned to death, but not before he had spread enough leaven of truth to save the doctrine of the supreme Yahweh; he had insured the further evolution of the Melchizedek revelation. [97:4:1-7]

[49] Jesus Enters Jerusalem Riding a Donkey.
       Zechariah 9:9: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt of the foal of an ass.
     There remained only a few days before his crucifixion when Jesus decided to make a formal and public entry into Jerusalem. Heretofore he had always tried to suppress all public acclaim of him as the Messiah, but it was different now: he was nearing the end of his career in the flesh, his death had been decreed by the Sanhedrin, and no harm could come from allowing his disciples to give free expression to their feelings.
     What appropriate method should he choose for his public entrance into Jerusalem? He considered all the many more or less contradictory so-called Messianic prophesies. Most of them depicted a king, the son and successor of David, a bold and aggressive temporal deliverer of all Israel from the yoke of foreign domination. The warrior king always entered a city riding upon a horse. But a king on a mission of peace and friendship always entered riding upon an ass. Jesus decided to enter Jerusalem peacefully and with good will as the Son of Man on a donkey. [172:3:1-5] [Matthew 21:1-11]

[50] Sources of Information Used in Part IV, The Life and Teachings of Jesus, in The Urantia Book.
       In Paper 121, Section 8, Previous Written Records, the author explains in detail the sources that he used in writing the "Life and Teachings of Jesus."
     [A.] The Gospel of Matthew. This Gospel was written by Isador, one of Matthew's disciples. Matthew's original record was edited and added to in A.D. 40 just before he left Jerusalem to engage in evangelistic preaching. In the year 71, while living at Pella, Isador wrote the Gospel according to Matthew. He had with him the first four fifths of Mark's narrative.
     [B.] The Gospel of Mark. This Gospel was completed near the end of A.D. 68. Peter died in A.D. 67. Before he died he gave many notes to Mark. The Gospel was completed near the end of A.D. 68.
     [C.] The Gospel of Luke. Luke, the physician of Antioch in Pisidia, was a gentile convert of Paul. He began to follow Paul in A.D. 47. In some ways the Gospel of Luke is the Gospel according to Paul, although Luke had other sources. He had the first four fifths of Isador's narrative, and a brief record made in year A.D. 78 by a believer named Cedes. He also had a mutilated and much-edited copy of some notes purported to have been made by the Apostle Andrew. Luke did not formulate his many notes into the Gospel until after Paul's death. He wrote in the year 82 in Achaia.
     [D.] The Gospel of John. This is the so-called Gospel according to John the son of Zebedee. Although John did not write it, he did inspire it. He had the other Gospels, and he saw that much had been omitted; accordingly, in the year A.D. 101 he encouraged his associate, Nathan, a Greek Jew from Caesarea, to begin the writing. John supplied his material from memory and by reference to the three records already in existence. He had no written records of his own.
     A reader of the Four Gospels should keep in mind that they were written many years after Jesus left. Apparently no effort was made to synthesize the writings of the authors. This explains in part why there is so much duplication of material in the Gospels.
     The sponsors of Part IV of The Urantia Book have been in existence thousands of years. Thus, they observed Jesus on a daily basis as he lived and taught on earth. In addition to human writings, they had resource to their own memories, and when necessary, they consulted the celestial records.

     Persons who read Part IV of The Urantia Book and believe its teachings can readily spot those teachings in the New Testament that deviate from the gospel as presented by Jesus. In view of the many inaccurate teachings in the Four Gospels, it seems plausible to assume that the writers received very little inspiration from divine sources. Further, there is reason to believe that Paul received much of his information from Caligastia, the traitorous Planetary Prince. [See Paper 20, Holy Spirit: Holy or Unholy?]

[51] Jesus was not of the line of King David.
       Joseph was not of the line of King David. Six generations previously Joseph's paternal ancestor of that generation, being an orphan, was adopted by one Zadoc, who was a direct descendant of David; hence was Joseph also accounted as of the "house of David." Jesus himself onetime publicly denied any connection with the royal house of David. Many of the inaccurate genealogies of both Joseph and Mary were constructed subsequent to Jesus' career on earth. [Matthew 1:1-17] [122:4:4]

[52] Herod's Slaughter of the Innocents. The Flight into Egypt.
       The priests from Mesopotamia [the Magi] were instructed by Herod to find Jesus so that he [Herod] could worship Jesus. Even though Herod gave the Magi a purse, they did not return to report the whereabouts of Jesus. When, after more than a year of searching, Herod's spies had not located Jesus, he decreed that all babies under two years of age in Bethlehem should be killed. Sixteen boy babies were killed about the middle of October, 6 B.C.
     When Joseph learned of Herod's order, he and Mary departed with Jesus for Alexandria the night before the slaughter. They sojourned in Alexandria two full years, not returning to Bethlehem until after the death of Herod. [ Matthew 2:13-23] [122:10]

[53] Ministry of John the Baptist. [Matthew, Chapter 3; also 14:1-12]
       The ministry of John the Baptist in discussed in detail in Paper 135. John was executed by order of Herod Antipas on the evening of January 10, A.D. 28. [135:12] [144:9:1]
       In Paper 170 there appears the following statement: Sooner or later another and greater John the Baptist is due to arise proclaiming "the kingdom of God is at hand"--meaning a return to the high spiritual concept of Jesus, who proclaimed that the kingdom is the will of his heavenly Father dominant and transcendent in the heart of the believer--and doing all this without in any way referring either to the visible church on earth or to the anticipated second coming of Christ. [170:5:19]
     Perhaps Elijah will be this "later and greater" prophet. At Malachi 4:5 we see the following statement: Behold, I [the Lord] will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.

[54] The Temptation of Jesus. Matthew 4:1-11.
       According to Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus supposedly fasted forty days and forty nights.
     The Indwelling Thought Adjuster led Jesus to forsake the dwelling places of men and betake himself up to Mount Hermon that he might finish his work of mastering his human mind and complete the task of effecting his full consecration to the remainder of his lifework on earth. This was one of those unusual and extraordinary epochs in the Master's life while on earth. Another and very similar one was the experience he passed through when alone in the hills near Pella just subsequent to his baptism. This period of isolation on Mount Hermon marked the termination of his purely human career, that is, the technical termination of the mortal bestowal, while the later isolation marked the beginning of the more divine phase of the bestowal. Jesus was on Mount Hermon for six weeks.
     Jesus did not fast for forty days and forty nights. He abstained from all food only a day or two at a time. Jesus did not go into retirement for the purpose of fasting and for the affliction of his soul. He was not an ascetic, and he came forever to destroy all such notions regarding the approach to God. His reasons for seeking this retirement were entirely different from those which had actuated Moses and Elijah, and even John the Baptist.
     After Jesus had ascended a short way up the mountain, he requested that he be permitted to go up to his last struggle with the realities of mortal existence alone. His request was granted. He went into the great test with only his indwelling Adjuster to guide and sustain him.
     Near the end of the mountain sojourn Jesus asked his Father if he might be permitted to hold conference with his enemies as the Son of Man, as Joshua ben Joseph. His request was granted. During the last week on Mount Hermon the great temptation, the universal trial, occurred. Satan [representing Lucifer] and the rebellious Planetary Prince, Caligastia, were present with Jesus and were made fully visible to him. And this "temptation," this final trial of human loyalty in the face of the misrepresentations of rebel personalities, had not to do with food, temple pinnacles, or presumptuous acts. It had not to do with the kingdoms of this world but with the sovereignty of a mighty and glorious universe. The symbolism of your records was intended for the backward ages of the world's childlike thought. [In the mid-1930s there were 3,840,101 inhabited planets in Jesus' local universe for which he is responsible. Why would Jesus be impressed with only the kingdoms of this world?]
     To all the Lucifer-suggested compromises and makeshifts, to all such specious proposals about the incarnation bestowal, Jesus only made reply, "The will of my Father in Paradise be done."
     Jesus' so-called "great temptation" took place some time before his baptism and not just after that event. [32:2:9] [134:7:6,7] [134:8] [136:3:3]
     After Jesus was baptized he entered upon forty days of isolation during which he formulated the plans for the remainder of his bestowal on earth. During that period he determined upon the technique of proclaiming the new kingdom of God in the hearts of men. [Paper 136, Sections 3-10].

[55] Ordination of the Twelve.
       The so-called "Sermon on the Mount" [Matthew, Chapters 5, 6, and 7:1,2] is not the gospel of Jesus. It does contain much helpful instruction, but it was Jesus' ordination charge to the twelve apostles. It was the Master's personal commission to those who were to go on preaching the gospel and aspiring to represent him in the world of men even as he was so eloquently and perfectly representative of his Father. [Paper 140 describes in detail the ordination of the twelve.]

[56] Jesus Comments on Divorce.
       Matthew 19:3-9: A Pharisee asked Jesus: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? Jesus answered: Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female . . . What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Question to Jesus: Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? Jesus answered: Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
     This passage was erroneously attributed to Jesus. He did not say it.
     Though Jesus refused to be drawn into a controversy with the Pharisees concerning divorce, he did proclaim a positive teaching of the highest ideals regarding marriage. He exalted marriage as the most ideal and highest of all human relationships. Likewise, he intimated strong disapproval of the lax and unfair divorce practices of the Jerusalem Jews, who at that time permitted a man to divorce his wife for the most trifling of reasons, such as being a poor cook, a faulty housekeeper, or for no better reason than that he had become enamoured of a better-looking woman. . . . The Pharisees had even gone so far as to teach that divorce of this easy variety was a special dispensation granted the Jewish people, particularly the Pharisees. And so, while Jesus refused to make pronouncements dealing with marriage and divorce, he did most bitterly denounce these shameful floutings of the marriage relationship and pointed out their injustice to women and children. He never sanctioned any divorce practice which gave man any advantage over woman; the Master countenanced only those teachings which accorded women equality with men. [167:5:2-5]
     Jesus repeatedly refused to lay down laws regarding marriage and divorce, but many of Jesus' early followers had strong opinions on divorce and did not hesitate to attribute them to him. [140:8:14]
     It seems plausible to assume that under the laws that will be implemented by the coming Sole World Ruler marriage will be defined as a civil institution, not a department of the church. I conjecture that a church will not be permitted to establish rules regarding marriage and divorce.
     Note the statement: "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." One author in The Urantia Book explained that if God had joined a man and woman together in marriage, no man could put it asunder. We see daily that a man and woman joined together in marriage by man can be "put asunder" by man.