Part 8.1 - The Deep Sleep of Adam
The Deep Sleep of Adam In the formation of Eve we see many parallels to the formation of the Bride of Christ. One of the very striking parallels between these two brides is that they are both taken from a body that has been cast into a deep sleep. To examine this, let us begin with the description of Eve as she is removed from the body of Adam.
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place.
22 And the LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23 And the man said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of Man."Genesis 2:21-23 In this passage we see described the formation of the bride of the first Adam. The primary things I want you to note in this description are: first, a deep sleep came upon Adam; second, a separation occurred in the body of Adam that resulted in a bride being formed. A remnant was removed from his sleeping body to form his bride. In this very hour in which we live such a separation is taking place. One of the predominant scriptures being proclaimed by prophets and teachers of God in this hour is from the book of Revelation where God’s saints are commanded to come out of the great harlot which typifies the apostate church of our day.
"Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues...”Revelation 18:4 This is further borne out by prophecies that have proclaimed that the year 2000 will begin a period of tremendous separation. This is revealed in the number 2000, itself. The number 2 represents division or separation, for any time that a whole unit is divided, separated, or broken, it must become no less than two separate and distinct pieces. Separation in scripture is often typified by the mention of two things as in: the light was separated from the darkness; the land was separated from the waters; the waters below the firmament were separated from the waters above the firmament; Adam’s body was separated and became man and woman; the scriptures are divided into the Old and New Testaments, etc.. In these things we can see that the number two speaks of separation. That the year 2000 is a multiple of 2 (2 X 1,000), it symbolizes that the separation that ensues at this time will be greatly multiplied. It will not be a common separation, but one of great magnitude. Even so, the Bride of Christ being separated from the body of Christ speaks of an extraordinary separation.
Now, concerning that which we see in type in the deep sleep that came upon Adam, we see spoken of by Paul in reference to the body of the Last Adam, Jesus Christ. Paul indicated that a similar deep sleep would come upon the body of Christ prior to the Bride of Christ being removed from it.
Paul spoke to the Thessalonian believers and said that those who were afflicting them would be judged at the appearing of the Lord. Their judgment would include their being excluded and removed from being partakers of the glory of the Lord which would be revealed IN those believers who were found faithful.
9 And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed-- for our testimony to you was believed.2 Thessalonians 1:9-10
We see clearly in this passage that Paul is speaking of the day of the Lord’s return. Contrary to what many believers expect, Christ is to be revealed IN His holy saints at His next appearing, not in the clouds of the sky as many teach. The scriptures do say that Christ will return in the clouds, but He is first to be revealed in His saints as Paul describes here. As we will see, these ones who will have the glory of the Lord to rise upon them (Isaiah 60:1-2) will be the remnant that constitute the Bride of Christ.
Returning to the scripture passage in II Thessalonians, we see that Paul is speaking of the day of the Lord’s return in His saints. Paul then goes on to describe what will occur just before this day.
3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 The key to understanding this passage is discerning what temple Paul is referring to in verse 4. We know that Jesus completely fulfilled the Law and by His sacrifice He abolished the need to anymore keep the ceremonial law. This ceremonial law was primarily focused on the temple which was located in Jerusalem. The passing away of this temple built of wood and stone in its function of being the location where God would meet with man was immediately demonstrated at Christ’s death by the veil of the temple barring the entrance to the Most Holy Place being rent in two as Jesus breathed His last breath. The covering of the veil of the Temple was mandated by God to prevent those who were unsanctified from gazing on the presence of God. To look on His presence was to invoke His immediate judgment, and death was the penalty. By the veil being torn and the Most Holy Place exposed, God was signifying that His presence no longer would be found in a building made of wood and stone. His temple was now the temple of man’s body, a building built of living stones. This was further demonstrated by God when forty years later, in AD 70, the Temple in Jerusalem was COMPLETELY destroyed by the Romans so that not one stone remained upon another.
Since the death of Christ the temple that God has revealed His presence in has been exclusively a temple formed of the bodies of men and women. When Paul then speaks of the man of lawlessness taking his seat in the temple, he is not talking about a temple built of wood and stone, but one built of living stones. It would not offend God at all for a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem to be defiled because God’s presence will no more be revealed in such buildings. What angers God is for the man of lawlessness to take his seat in the living temple, the temple of man’s body where God’s Spirit dwells, for this is the temple where the glory of God is to be revealed. The apostasy that Paul speaks of which must occur before Jesus is revealed in His saints, refers to a rejection of the truth by those who are of the household of God. The word apostasy is defined by Strongs Hebrew/Greek Dictionary as: “defection from truth.” This is why Paul describes the last days to Timothy as being “perilous times”, for men will not listen to truth, but will heap to themselves teachers who will tickle their ears and tell them what they want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3). As the church experiences this defection from truth because they have not loved truth, the man of lawlessness will take a seat in the temple which is the bodies of God’s saints. This lawlessness is a rejection of the authority of God, a failure of obedience to the Lordship of Christ (remember Vashti?). Jesus demonstrated that this was the nature of lawlessness in the following passage.
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
22 "Many will say to Me on that day, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
23 "And then I will declare to them, ’I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’Matthew 7:21-23
These ones are lawless because they did not "do the will of [the] Father." They were prophesying according to their own will. They were casting out demons according to their own will. They were performing miracles according to their own will. No matter how much they said "Lord, Lord" it did not change the fact that they were not subject to the Lordship of Christ. Rather than being led of the Spirit of God in all of their activities, they were led by their own will. This is a great note of caution, for many are prophesying in this day, and casting out demons, and even performing miracles. But they are not all doing so by the leading of the Spirit of God. These are lawless ones and Paul prophesies of the "man of lawlessness" being revealed, taking his seat in the temple of God, which temple we are. A large majority of believers were wholly led into a confession of Christ that downplayed the Lordship of Christ and the message of the cross and which emphasized prosperity, self-fulfillment, and fire insurance to keep oneself out of hell. Such believers have never embraced a love of the truth, and a love of the person of Jesus Christ, as well as a desire to be made holy and to be conformed to His image. These believers wanted to have a ticket to get into heaven when they die and the freedom to pursue the pleasures of the world while they walk on this earth.
Because these believers motives have been impure, not loving the truth, God has sent them a strong delusion.
10 because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false,
12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.2 Thessalonians 2:10-12
Many Christians misidentify who is being referred to here because of the statement in verse 10, “so as to be saved.” They assume that this is speaking of mans’ initial salvation (spirit salvation), and so they assume that it is not speaking of believers, but of the lost. However, the scriptures reveal that there is a further salvation for the saints of God to partake of, but many will disqualify themselves for it. so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.Hebrews 9:28 The salvation spoken of in2 Thessalonians 2:10is the same salvation spoken of inHebrews 9:28. This is a second salvation. Some refer to it as soul salvation. The salvation we receive through Christ’s death and resurrection by faith is spirit salvation, for the scriptures state that "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). There remains a further salvation of the soul, and a final transforming of our bodies, bringing us to a fulness of salvation.
Putting all this into perspective, we know that Christ is soon to come back for His Bride, a remnant Bride. In order for the Bride to be separated from the body, a deep sleep must come over the body, even as it did with Adam’s body. What Paul has described here as a deluding influence from God in2 Thessalonians 2:11corresponds to the deep sleep that came over Adam. Remember, it was God who caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam, and we are told that it is again God who sends a deluding influence upon those of His household who have not received a love of the truth. To confirm the correlation between this delusion and sleep let us examine the following scriptures.
10 For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of DEEP SLEEP, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, the seers.
11 And the entire vision shall be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, "Please read this," he will say, "I cannot, for it is sealed."
12 Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, "Please read this." And he will say, "I cannot read."
13 Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from me, and their reverence for me consists of tradition learned by rote,
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be concealed."Isaiah 29:10-14
Note that here God speaks of pouring over the people a spirit of DEEP SLEEP. It was a deep sleep that God brought upon Adam before He removed the remnant from his body to form a bride. This deep sleep is further defined in this passage as: shutting the eyes of the prophets; covering the heads of the seers; sealing up the vision; cutting off their wisdom and discernment. Isn’t this a perfect parallel to Paul’s words of God sending delusion to those who did not love the truth? So we see that before the return of the Lord to appear in glory in His saints that a deep sleep will once more come from the Lord upon the body. This does not indicate that the body will just be lying around doing nothing, for many will be prophesying, casting out demons, and performing miracles, but they will be doing so of their own volition for the man of lawlessness will take his seat in the temple made of living stones. At this time a breach will be made in the body of Christ as is being manifested by God’s words to “come out of her My people.” God will then fashion a Bride for His Son from this remnant portion removed from the body.
Now a further thing of interest is revealed as we examine the scriptures. As we look at the principle of covering we see a wonderful truth, but first a brief word on the principle of covering. God reveals examples of covering throughout scripture. The earth of Genesis chapter one was covered by the waters below the firmament and the waters above the firmament. The Ark of the Covenant where the glory of God appeared had two coverings, the cherubim and the cloud of incense. The Tabernacle of Moses likewise had two coverings. Women are instructed to have two coverings on their heads, their hair and a covering of cloth.
These coverings and many others in scriptures symbolize some important principles relating to power, glory, and authority. However, as this book is not a teaching on the principle of covering, I will not go into this now. What I want to state is that the soul of man in his original creation before the fall also had two coverings. He had his physical body and a covering of glory. How do we know that he had a covering of glory? Simply because we are told that man was created not only in the image of God, but in the image and glory of God (1 Corinthians 11:7).
However, when Adam sinned the glory departed and he was left uncovered and realized that he was naked. Being naked means to be uncovered. Many have supposed that Adam and Eve were always naked and that when they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that they were simply made aware of their nakedness. This is not true. Adam and Eve were originally clothed. Their clothing was the glory of God and when they sinned their clothing of glory was removed for the glory of God and the presence of sin cannot abide together. The fact that sin and glory cannot abide together is why only those who had sanctified and cleansed themselves from sin could serve in the Temple and Tabernacle. The glory of God resided there. This is why the High Priest had to go through such meticulous procedures of purification and cleansing before entering the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement. Sin cannot abide in the presence of God. Paul said that sin dwelt in his flesh, and God said that no flesh could stand before Him. The two are incompatible.
After Adam and Eve sinned they were naked. Their covering of glory had been removed. God therefore gave them a substitutionary covering made from the skin of an animal, and men and women have had need of wearing a covering over their flesh to this day.
One principle of covering shows that because life (soul life) is in the blood, blood must be covered. God demonstrated this even in the matter of killing an animal to eat it.
"So when any man from the sons of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.”Leviticus 17:13 When one poured out the blood of an animal on the ground it was to be covered with earth. It was also from earth that man’s flesh was formed and man’s flesh was a covering for the life of his soul which was in his blood. He also had the second covering of glory, and after he sinned he had the substitute covering of clothing.
Now when comparing this principle to the scriptures we have already looked at in II Thessalonians we see the covering that will be given to the Bride of Christ. All sin will be removed from the Bride and the glory of God will once more adorn her and serve as a covering. Again, let us look at this scripture where Paul contrasts the wicked and the righteous of God’s household.
9 And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed-- for our testimony to you was believed.2 Thessalonians 1:9-10 Paul speaks of longing for this day of our clothing with glory in this way.
1 For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven;
3 inasmuch as we, having put it on, shall not be found naked.
4 For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.2 Corinthians 5:1-4 This is a marvelous thing. Just as Eve was separated from the sleeping body of Adam, so is the Bride of the Last Adam being separated from His sleeping body. She will then be clothed with glory. A deep sleep was brought upon both bodies by God. Just as God took that remnant portion of Adam’s body and formed it into woman, so God will take the remnant removed from the body of Christ and form a Bride. Yet the Bride of Christ will not have a covering of sinful flesh overlaid with the skin of an animal, but she will have a glorified body that is clothed with the glory of Christ.
2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as HeIsaiah 3:1-26And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.1 John 3:2-3
We live in awesome days. The church is asleep and a remnant is being removed. We should live with an anticipation for what is soon to occur. A last thought; even as the Jews at the time of Christ’s first coming did not recognize the day of their visitation, so the church of our day will not recognize the day of her visitation. They will be asleep. The Jews of Christ’s day were looking for Christ to appear in a form that was different from His actual appearing. They were looking for a conquering King to come and reestablish the throne of David and give them back their nation. Today the church has similarly embraced faulty ideas of the coming of Christ. They do not anticipate that His appearing will be IN His saints. They are looking for Him to come on the clouds of the sky.
Even as the eyes of the Jews were veiled to the presence of the Son of God in their midst, so will much of the church’s eyes be veiled. Not all will recognize the coming of Christ as they have been taught. so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.Hebrews 9:28 Did you note that Christ will appear “to those who eagerly await Him?” Not all will see His appearing. It will be those who are awake and alert and who are looking for His return who will see Him. As the church slumbers the separation is taking place. Christ will appear at an hour when the church thinks not and as a thief He will break into His house and steal that which is most precious to Him, His Bride. The others will awaken with a start and realize that they were not ready when the Bridegroom came for the Bride. They will seek to enter in, but the door will have already been shut. They will have to go through the cleansing of the great tribulation and by their patience and perseverance purchase robes wherewith to be clothed.