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The university instructor asked the sociology class I sat in: “How do you get to heaven from here?” Many that visit GodSaidManSaid are initially unable to answer correctly. How would you answer this question? Take a moment to focus your thoughts and firm up your final answer. Approximately 30 students were in the class. The instructor wrangled out two answers:
- Answer One was: Go to church regularly, obey the Ten Commandments, and do good to others.
- Answer Two was: Just be a good person and don’t hurt anyone and you’ll be fine.
The class, representing nearly 600 cumulative years of pew-sitting, basically coalesced around these two answers with the teacher siding with Answer One.
I picked up a hitchhiker years ago and posed the same question to him. The young man responded, “Go to church and pay your tithes.”
In class, I raised my hand and the teacher acknowledged me. I asked the instructor if he would accept Jesus Christ as the authority on how to get to heaven; he agreed. I explained: “In that case, both answers on the blackboard are incorrect.” What was your answer?
Jesus Christ reveals the greatest mystery of this existence when He speaks to Nicodemus in John 3:1-3:
1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Then again, in John 4:4-8:
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother''s womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Will today be your day of salvation, the day you are born of the Spirit of God—literally born again? Make today the day all your sin, shame, and bondage is washed away. Click onto “Further with Jesus” for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.
GOD SAID, Genesis 3:22-24:
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
GOD SAID, Deuteronomy 8:7-9:
7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
MAN SAID: Today’s science will light man’s future. The Bible’s directives are simply the speculations of ill-informed men.
Now THE RECORD: When God puts His imprimatur on anything, the wise stand up and take notice.
The Word of God spends a considerable amount of time directing man in dietary concerns through direct commandments and by example. God’s positions have been consistently derided by the world’s academics. Unfortunately, the results have been deadly. Because the Holy Scriptures are the inerrant truth, with disregarding them comes the inescapable curse of doing the wrong thing. Galatians 6:7:
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
GodSaidManSaid has published many pages of content concerning God’s perfect diet and has pointed out the many calamities man’s arrogant disregard has created. We have addressed dietary issues such as:
- Breast-feeding;
- Whole milk;
- Butter;
- Olive oil;
- Salt;
- Raw honey;
- Whole wheat;
- Purging blood from meats;
- Clean and unclean creatures;
- And much more.
Most are unaware that the food pyramid of old, which was endorsed and promoted by the U.S., has been flipped on its head, reaffirming the GodSaidManSaid axiom that man’s truth of yesterday is debunked by his truth of today, and his truth of today will be debunked by his truth of tomorrow. But God’s Word never changes because that is the nature of truth.
Today’s feature revisits the famed Tree of Life and the olive tree and its fruits. Again, the Holy Bible stakes out its positions thousands of years before today’s academics stand to defend—in many cases, unwittingly.
Where do the concepts of the tree of life—and the fountain of youth, or the idea of immortality—come from? Could such fantastical ideas have any root in history? Do these marvelous ideas exist in substance? Can I find them? Can I participate? Prepare to be amazed!
The following excerpts are from the GodSaidManSaid feature “God’s Imprimatur and the Olive Tree:”
Could there be any truth to the phenomenal story that there was actually a tree of life that, if you ate of it, you would live forever? Can we find a remnant of that tree? Does the Bible give valuable pointers to which tree it was? Man has been enamored with such an idea since the beginning of time. It is the quest for our original immortal roots.
It is interesting to note that God did not remove the Tree of Life from the earth after man had sinned, but instead set Cherubims to protect it from man. After Adam and Eve had cast off the Word of God, they were cast out of Paradise. It was at that point that they, their offspring, and all the elements of earth became subject to the law of sin and death, known in science as the second law of thermodynamics. This law means that all things go from order to disorder—from life to death. This curse affects everything.
Sixteen hundred-plus years later, a second disastrous happening took place that greatly accelerated the effects of the curse of sin and death. This second happening, which occurred during the flood of Noah, was the destruction of the water canopy that once encompassed the earth. The water canopy was suspended above the first heaven, which is the immediate atmosphere that surrounds the globe. According to the creation science model, the water canopy would have created a global greenhouse effect and acted as a filter, filtering out the devastating killer rays from the sun, such as ultraviolet rays and more. These harmful rays are deadly to all life, including trees, grass, air, water, animals, and humans. Prior to the global flood in the days of Noah before the water canopy was destroyed, man lived 13 times longer than he does today, reaching the average age of 911 years.
The massive changes caused by the curse of sin and death affected all of creation and would also have affected the Tree of Life.
In this feature, we will not prove emphatically which tree was once the Tree of Life, but rather, we will provide the spiritual and physical rationale that strongly supports the idea of such a marvelous record in the Word of God—a record much maligned by carnal skeptics and ridiculed as a fairy tale.
While searching for this miraculous tree we find in scriptures, in history, and in science, one tree stands as a giant above all others, even while enduring the life-ending curse of sin. This proverbial tree is the olive tree.
In the Holy Word of God, there is no tree like the olive. After the great flood, Noah knew that the waters were drying up from the earth when the dove he released returned to the ark with an olive leaf in its mouth. The olive leaf or branch today is the symbol of hope. Ancient law forbids the destruction of any olive tree, even if it belongs to an enemy. The olive tree and its oil are endorsed hundreds of times in the Word of God. It was olive oil that fueled the holy flame that burned continually before the veil of God’s most holy place (Exodus 27:20). Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies, beyond the veil. The two doors at the entrance were made of the wood of the olive tree (I Kings 6:32). Above the Ark of the Covenant, which was the spiritual center of the tabernacle of God, were the wings of two Cherubims, also made of the olive tree (I Kings 6:23-28).
Zechariah 14:11-14 reads:
11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?
13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
The sweet psalmist of Israel wrote in Psalm 52:8:
But I am ever like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
In James 5:14, the elders in the house of God are directed to anoint the sick with oil and pray the prayer of faith.
Salvation and entrance into the body of Christ are compared to the olive tree in Romans 11:16-18:
16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
There is no tree in the Scriptures like the glorious olive.
Sometimes the answer to the question is so simple and obvious, it escapes discovery. One day, it dawned on me that I have eaten of the very source and substance of the tree of life. There truly is a tree of life and its source and its access are one and the same and you can eat today. This tree is found in I Peter 2:21-24:
21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
For all of mankind, the tree of life is the cross Christ Jesus was hung upon. It’s here that He ransoms and quickens the dead souls of all who will call upon His name. Galatians 3:13:
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Christ Jesus bore our curse and broke the chains of death by which we were bound.
John 6:53-58:
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
Acts 5:30:
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Acts 10:39-40:
39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
40 Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly;
Acts 13:29:
And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.
The Cross of Christ—the tree upon which He was hanged, on which He bore our curse and made atonement for our sins—is our Tree of Life. The Lord speaks in John 11:25-26:
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
The tree of life has been found and that tree of life is Christ. What a glorious Saviour.
The following excerpts are from the GodSaidManSaid feature “God Said Olive Oil:”
In nearly 200 instances in the Scriptures, God speaks of oil, and when He identifies it, we find that it’s olive oil. When God endorses something so heavily, the wise embrace it. GodSaidManSaid first published the truth about olive oil nearly 40 years ago, long before the concept was cool. We are not here because it is now popular. We are here because it is God’s Word and His Word is truth. Lining up with the Word of God is a demonstration of our love for Him, and the colossal benefits of this lining up are a demonstration of His love for us. It is so utterly amazing!
The following list of benefits, lifted from GodSaidManSaid’s first three articles on this highly God-endorsed product, will hopefully convince you to replace the bad look-alike products in your pantry with olive oil:
• Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat.
• It improves cholesterol levels.
• It reduces coronary heart disease.
• It lowers the bad LDL cholesterol.
• It reduces the need for blood-pressure medication.
• Olive oil knocks the popular sunflower oil for a loop.
• Increased consumption of olive oil reduces rates of arterial hypertension, obesity, and diabetes.
• Residents of Crete have the lowest rates of heart problems, cancer, and obesity in Europe because they use large amounts of virgin olive oil.
• Olive oil protects against breast cancer, while polyunsaturated fats in vegetable oil seem to enhance the risk.
• For every 10 grams of monounsaturates (olive oil) that a woman consumes daily, the risk of breast cancer falls 55%. However, that risk increases by almost 70% for every five grams of polyunsaturates consumed per day.
• Olive oil creates the sensation of fullness.
• Olive oil improves digestion.
• Olive oil inhibits gastric acid secretion and has proven useful for gastric and duodenal ulcer patients.
• Olive oil is useful in decreasing gall stones.
• Olive oil delivers distinctive advantages over corn and sunflower oils.
• Olive oil reduces insulin requirements in diabetics and improves their lipidic profile
• Higher consumption rates of olive oil deliver lower levels of colon cancer.
• News story headline: “Olive Leaf Extract: A New/Old Healing Bonanza for Mankind.”
• Olive leaf extract fights HIV, Epstein-Barr, herpes, the flu, sore throats, and chronic sinusitis.
• The Hungarian government adopts olive leaf extract for its Medicare system as its official anti-infectious disease remedy.
• Oleuropein (ah‑leh‑YOUR‑ah‑peen), found in the olive tree and isolated from the leaf, is credited with the phenomenal long life of the olive tree, which is said to be able to live for thousands of years.
• Olive leaf extract has been found to be effective against nearly 90 viruses.
As science continues to plumb the depths of the secrets of God’s olive oil, the benefits continue to mount and dazzle in surprising ways. [End of quotes]
The headline on the cover of the September 2016 issue of Life Extension reads, “Multiple Health Benefits of Olive Oil,” from a feature by Michael Downey. Excerpts follow:
A recent meta-analysis, including 32 studies and 841,211 subjects, clarified that the benefits of olive oil consumption far exceed the benefits of other rich sources of monounsaturated fatty acids—underscoring that olive oil’s beneficial effects derive from polyphenols.
This meta-analysis showed that when evaluating olive oil separately, olive oil itself reduced the risk for all-cause mortality by 23%, cardiovascular events by 28%, and stroke incidence by 40%. Monounsaturated fatty acid intakes that came from a general mix of animal and plant origins did not reveal any significant risk reduction for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular events, or stroke.
As University of California at Davis scientists reported regarding this meta-analysis, extra virgin olive oil, “…is the only oil that is high both in monounsaturated fat and phenol content, and comparable health benefits would not be provided by other oils or foods.”
As a result, it is now broadly recognized that the high polyphenol content of extra virgin olive oil (not its high monounsaturated fat content) is an important driver of its documented reduction in cardiovascular disease risk and other benefits.
Beyond cardiovascular effects, the polyphenols in extra virgin olive oil have been found to suppress cancer. For instance, the major extra virgin olive oil polyphenols have been shown to cause cells with the breast cancer-promoting gene HER2 to self-destruct.
There’s a general belief that regular olive oil isn’t an optimal oil for sautéing due to having a low smoke point. But high quality extra virgin olive oil has a high smoke point of 400°F. If olive oil in general has gotten a bad rap for use in cooking, it’s probably because up to 80% of the oils sold in the US as extra virgin olive oil are counterfeit. Most people who think they’re using it are actually using inferior oils.
Control subjects were fed saturated-fat rich meals that included red meat, milk, and cheese. The intervention group had most of their saturated fats replaced by corn oil rich in the pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid. The goal of the analysis was to evaluate the theory that omega-6 rich corn oil would protect people against heart disease and lower their mortality. What the researchers found, however, was that the use of corn oil to replace saturated fats in the diet lowered cholesterol but increased the risk of death from heart disease. [End of quotes]
Again from Life Extension magazine, excerpts follow from a Q and A with Dr. Ariel Saffer, author of the new book The Simple Mediterranean Diet: Easy Steps to Change Your Diet…And Change Your Life:
LE: What led you to your focus on the Mediterranean diet?
AS: There really was one moment that pushed me over the edge. There were already plenty of data showing that the Mediterranean diet was good for your heart and arteries. But (in 2015) a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at the rate of invasive breast cancer among women. And guess what? The study authors, led by Dr. Estafania Toledo, found that a diet high in extra virgin olive oil actually reduced the risk of breast cancer.
LE: What was the deeper significance of this?
AS: This was the first randomized trial of any type showing that a particular diet could reduce the risk of breast cancer—and it all came down to extra virgin olive oil for the “primary prevention of breast cancer.” This is deeply exciting, because it shows that the Mediterranean diet isn’t a one-trick diet. It’s not only good for heart disease. It is about glowing good health in every area of life.
LE: Can you explain the effects of each on the body? First, olive oil.
AS: Put simply, it’s an incredibly healthy fat that you should be consuming every day. Extra virgin olive oil is loaded with healthy monounsaturated fats and powerful polyphenols. It has been shown to protect the inner lining of coronary arteries and help lower blood pressure. A review of all the published benefits of extra virgin olive oil found that it helped reduce inflammation in the coronary arteries, may help lower total cholesterol, reduced the formation of blood clots, and provided additional evidence that it supported healthy arteries. Extra virgin olive oil has been shown to help prevent stroke in the elderly. In lab studies, extra virgin olive oil has been shown to slow tumor growth in colon cancer. Consumption of olive oil appears to support healthy brain function and might even protect against depression. It is unique among cooking oils for its ability to support a healthy heart, brain, vascular system, and in newer research is even suggested to reduce the risk of certain types of cancer.
The Food and Drug Administration recommends about two tablespoons [of extra virgin olive oil] daily. The PREDIMED study, the largest and most definitive scientific study on the benefits of olive oil, used four tablespoons a day as its benchmark. I recommend four tablespoons. Fortunately, extra virgin olive oil is so delicious that it’s not hard to get those few tablespoons every day. You can use olive oil in salad dressings or in any of the recipes in the back of the book. [End of quotes]
The following excerpt is from Better Nutrition:
Relatively new to the modern American botanical scene is Olea europaea, or olive leaf. For centuries, the olive tree has been revered as the “tree of life.” In this century, most of us know it as an international symbol of peace, and as the source of a healthful and delicious culinary oil. Additionally, it seems the leaf of the olive tree may well have significant value as an immune-enhancing herb.
The research continues to pour in, and when today’s science discovers the marvels of the olive tree, they find the childlike are already there. God’s Word is true and righteous altogether—a place to build a life that will last forever.
GOD SAID, Genesis 3:22-24:
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
GOD SAID, Deuteronomy 8:7-9:
7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
MAN SAID: Today’s science will light man’s future. The Bible’s directives are simply the speculations of ill-informed men.
Now you have THE RECORD.
References:
Authorized King James Version
Downey, M., “Is Your Olive Oil Counterfeit?” Life Extension, September 2016
GodSaidManSaid, “God Said Olive Oil”
GodSaidManSaid, “Tree of Life Now Found”
Soffer, A., “The Simple Mediterranean Diet,” Life Extension, September 2016
