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The Richard Urban Show:
#72 The Family Rooted in Absolute Sexual Ethics Part 8-with Leila Johnson
#71 Do Not Concede or Consent

Joshua 18

These were the borders of Benjamin’s tribal land, where the clans of Benjamin lived.

^21-24 One region of Benjamin’s tribal land had twelve towns with their surrounding villages. Those towns were Jericho, Beth-Hoglah, Emek-Keziz, Beth-Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, Chephar-Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba.

^25-28 In the other region there were the following fourteen towns with their surrounding villages: Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, Zelah, Haeleph, Gibeah, Kiriath-Jearim,^[l] and Jerusalem, which is also called Jebusite Town.

These regions are the tribal lands of Benjamin.

Micah 6

¹³ Because of your sins,
I will wound you
and leave you
    ruined and defenseless.
¹⁴ You will eat,
    but still be hungry;
you will store up goods,
    but lose everything—
I, the Lord, will let it all
    be captured in war.
¹⁵ You won’t harvest what you plant
or use the oil
    from your olive trees
or drink the wine
    from grapes you grow.

Part 2
Sin and Salvation

Evil, Sin and the Human Fall

The Human Fall

The Abrahamic faiths teach that humanity fell from a primordial state of unity with God, and similar beliefs are found the world over. Christianity links the Fall with the doctrine of original sin, as the sin of Adam and eve is imputed to all humanity, causing an enduring separation between humans and God which can only be remedied by Christ. in Islam, on the other hand, Adam’s sin was his alone, and he, like all human beings, could return to a position of acceptance by submission (islam) to God. still, the Fall brought into existence Satan, setting up for all humanity a trial which only some are able to endure. Finally, in Judaism we find a mixture of beliefs: passages gathered in this section affirming that the fall of Adam and eve brought a curse into the world are counterbalanced by other passages emphasizing individual responsibility and denying that we are culpable for the sins of our first ancestor.

    The human fall explains the discrepancy between the cosmos’ pure origin and its present state of suffering. it is logically necessary for religions in which (1) God is the only creator, (2) the creation was purposed to be good, and (3) evil is regarded as real and contrary to the purpose of creation. these postulates hold in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. they do not obtain in Buddhism, which lacks a doctrine of creation, nor in Hinduism, which regards matter as base and a limitation to be overcome on the path to self-realization. nevertheless, we find even in these religions speculation on a primordial fall from grace to explain the origin of evil karma.

    The biblical and qur’anic accounts of the human Fall are full of symbolism and open to varying interpretations. the serpent—variously called Satan, Lucifer or Iblis—instigates Adam and eve to disobey God’s commandment, often with the hint of sexual misconduct. Father Moon directly attributes the human Fall to sexual immorality, teaching that it poisoned the potential of humans for true, godly love. other accounts of the origin of evil that ascribe or hint at a sexual transgression are presented from Greek myth, Buddhism, Shinto and African tradition.

1. Adam and Eve’s Transgression

The Lord God took the man [Adam] and put
him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, say-
ing, “You may freely eat of every tree of the gar-
den; but of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you
eat of it you shall die.”
    Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that
the man should be alone; I will make him a helper
fit for him.” So out of the ground the l ord God
formed every beast of the field and every bird
of the air, and brought them to the man to see
what he would call them; and whatever the man
called every living creature, that was its name.
The man gave names to all cattle, and to the
birds of the air, and to every beast of the field;
but for the man there was not found a helper fit
for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to
fall upon the man, and while he slept took one
of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and
the rib which the Lord God had taken from the
man he made into a woman and brought her
to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is
bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall
be called Woman, because she was taken out of
Man.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his
mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become
one flesh. And the man and his wife were both
naked, and were not ashamed.
    Now the serpent was more subtle than any
other wild creature that the Lord God had
made. He said to the woman, “Did God say,
‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may
eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but
God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the
tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither
shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent
said to the woman, “You will not die. For God
knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing good
and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree
was good for food, and that it was a delight to
the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to
make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and
she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they
knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig
leaves together and made themselves aprons.
    And they heard the sound of the l ord God
walking in the garden in the cool of the day,
and the man and his wife hid themselves from
the presence of the l ord God among the trees
of the garden. But the l ord God called to the
man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he
said, “I heard the sound of Thee in the garden,
and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid
myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were
naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I
commanded you not to eat?” The man said,
“The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me,
she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the
l ord God said to the woman, “What is this that
you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent
beguiled me, and I ate.” The l ord God said to
the serpent, “Because you have done this,
    Cursed are you above all cattle,
    and above all wild animals;
    Upon your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat all the days of your
   life.
    I will put enmity between you and the
    woman,
    and between your seed and her seed;
    He shall bruise your head,
    and you shall bruise his heel.”
To the woman He said,
    “I will greatly multiply your pain in
      childbearing,
    in pain you shall bring forth children,
    Yet your desire shall be for your husband,
    and he shall rule over you.”
And to Adam he said, “Because you have lis-
tened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten
of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You
shall not eat of it,’
    cursed is the ground because of you;
    in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your
    life;
    Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to
       you;
     and you shall eat the plants of the field.
    In the sweat of your face you shall eat
       bread
    till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
    you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”
    The man called his wife’s name Eve, because
she was the mother of all living. And the l ord
God made for Adam and for his wife garments
of skins, and clothed them.
    Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the
man has become like one of us, knowing good
and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand
and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and
live forever”—therefore the l ord God sent
him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the
ground from which he was taken. He drove out
the man; and at the east of the Garden of Eden
he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword
which turned every way, to guard the way to the
tree of life.
    Genesis 2.15-3.24

It is We who created you and gave you shape;
then We bade the angels, “Bow down to Adam,”
and they bowed down; not so Iblis, he refused to
be of those who bow down. [God] said, “What
prevented you from bowing down when I com-
manded you?” He said, “I am better than he;
You created me from fire, and him from clay.”
God said, “Get down from this place; it is not
for you to be arrogant here; get out, for you are
of the meanest of creatures.” He said, “Give me
respite till the day when they are raised up.” God
said, “Be among those who are to have respite.”
    He said, “Because you have thrown me
out of the Way, lo! I will lie in wait for them
on Your Straight Way: Then will I assault them
from before them and behind, from their right
and their left: nor will You find, in most of
them, gratitude.” God said, “Get out from this,
disgraced and expelled. If any of them follow
you, I will fill hell with all of you.
    “And Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in
the Garden, and enjoy its good things as you
wish, but approach not this tree, or you will run
into harm and transgression.”
    Then Satan began to whisper suggestions to
them, bringing openly before their minds all their
shame that was previously unnoticed by them.
He said, “Your Lord only forbade you this tree,
lest you should become angels or such beings as
live forever.” And he swore to them both, that he
was their sincere advisor. So by deceit he brought
about their fall: when they tasted of the tree,
their shame [private parts] became apparent to
them, and they began to sew together the leaves
of the Garden over their bodies.
    And their Lord called unto them: “Did I not
forbid you that tree, and tell you that Satan was
an avowed enemy unto you both?” They said:
“Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls. If
You do not forgive us and do not grant us Your
mercy, we shall certainly be lost.” God said, “Get
you down, with enmity between yourselves. On
earth will be your dwelling place and your means
of livelihood—for a time. Therein shall you live,
and therein you shall die; but from it shall you
be brought forth at last.”
    O Children of Adam! We have bestowed
raiment upon you to cover your shame, as well
as to be an adornment to you. But the raiment
of righteousness—that is the best. Such are
among the signs of God, that they may receive
admonition.
    O Children of Adam! Let not Satan
seduce you in the same manner as he got your
parents out of the Garden, stripping them of
their clothing in order to expose their private
parts. He and his tribe watch you from where
you cannot see them! We have made the devils
friends only to those without faith.
    Qur’an 7.11-27

If I have covered my transgressions as Adam,
By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
    Job 31.33 (NKJV)

Why does the scripture not place the verse
“And the Lord God made for Adam and his
wife garments of skin” (Genesis 3.21) imme-
diately after “And they were both naked, and
were not ashamed” (Genesis 2.25)? It teaches
you through what sin that wicked creature
inveighed them: Because the serpent saw them
engaged in their natural relations, he conceived
a lust for her.
    Midrash Rabbah, Genesis 18.6 (Judaism)

The serpent followed Eve, saying, “Her soul
comes from the north, and I will therefore
quickly seduce her.” And how did he seduce
her? He had intercourse with her.
Bahir 199 (Judaism)

What was the wicked serpent contemplating at
that time? He thought, “I shall go and kill Adam
and wed his wife, and I shall be king over the
whole world.”
    Talmud, Avot de Rabbi Nathan 1 (Judaism)

The first man of our race did not bide his time,
desired the favor of marriage before the proper
hour, and fell into sin by not waiting for the time
of God’s Will.
    Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 3.14.94 (Christianity)

Dreams of falling are most frequently character-
ized by anxiety. Their interpretation when they
occur in women offers no difficulty, because
they nearly always accept the symbolic meaning
of falling, which is a circumlocution for giving
way to an erotic temptation.
    Nothing can be brought to an end in the
unconscious; nothing is past or forgotten.
    Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams