Tangible Mysticism Part 1 of 3<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
 
If we take the scriptures literally, humankind has undergone significant genetic change since Adam, Noah and Abraham. As recorded in Genesis and Job, at one time human life was measured in hundreds of years. Obviously, this is no longer the case; something has happened so that man no longer lives to be 900 years old. I propose that the cause is genetic, a degradation. Jacob mentions this degradation in Gen 47:9--
So Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning."
Let's examine the ages of each generation from Adam to Jacob as recorded in the Bible; the numbers support Jacob's conclusion.
Age     Man                 Ref.
930      Adam               Gen 5
912      Seth                 Gen 5
905      Enosh               Gen 5
910      Kenan              Gen 5
895      Mahalale          Gen 5
962      Jared                Gen 5
365      Enoch               Gen 5 (did not die)
969      Methuselah       Gen 5
777      Lamech           Gen 5
950      Noah                Gen 9, 11
600      Shem                Gen 11
438      Apachshad       Gen 11
420      Shelah              Gen 11
464      Eber                 Gen 11
239      Peleg                Gen 11
239      Rue                  Gen 11
230      Serug               Gen 11
148      Nahor              Gen 11
205      Terah               Gen 11
175      Abraham          Gen 25:7
180      Isaac                Gen 35:28
147      Jacob               Gen 47:28
137      Levi                  Ex 6
133      Kohath             Ex 6
137      Amram             Ex 6
120      Moses              Deut 34:7
 
I believe that in addition to living long lives, these men also tangibly experienced what we call the "spiritual." In other words, I believe that the Bible describes a time when humankind had the ability to objectively and physically communicate with spirits in ways that have been lost – I would say genetically lost.
 
Scripture records direct interaction between God and men: Adam, Cain, Enoch, and Noah. God spoke to and even walked with these men. I maintain that these were not mystical experiences; rather, they were body reality experienced with physical senses of hearing and touch.
 
The Scriptures also record objective interaction between God and the Patriarchs after the flood. God ate with Abraham, His angels grabbed <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Lot by the arm, and Jacob physically wrestled with God. Again, these men were not better mystics than we are; they dealt with spirits through their bodies – eyes, ears and fingers. After the flood, however, things began to change; human life spans that approached 1000 years rapidly declined. I believe that the Scriptures indicate that this objective interaction between man and spirit also changed.
 
I believe that Genesis 6 describes this phenomenon of actual intercourse (physical humans with spirits) and God's decision to put an end to it. Genesis 6 states:
Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
At this time, the physical intercourse between spirits and women was so real that half-breed offspring were produced, both before and after the flood. These women were not mystics, but women with real bodies who touched and held spirits. The result of this interaction was only evil continually. This "tangible mysticism" was both evil and seductive – so much so that by the time of Noah, he was the only righteous man of pure lineage left in the entire earth. His fathers and grandfathers had raised other sons and daughters but they had all strayed and become corrupted. Finally, God determined to eliminate this physical and objective communication between man and spirits. When He accomplished this, He reduced the human lifespan to 120 years.
 
Moses was the last man who spoke to God face to face. He was also the last man to have an unbroken lineage back to Adam of fathers who lived for more than 120 years. At the exodus, Deut 18 recounts that God directly spoke to the people of Israel from the fiery cloud on Sinai. The people said, "Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die." Far from being disappointed, God was pleased and said, "They have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him." God had determined to interact with His people through a mediator, first Moses, and secondly through the Great Prophet that Moses predicted in Deut 18. With the advent of Moses, the one who lived 120 years, tangible mysticism was obsolete and unavailable - from then on God spoke to His people through a man. The rest of Deut 18 outlaws the mystical practices to contact spirits and circumvent God's mediator. God had decided to speak to men through men and He determined these men were to be Moses and the prophets.
 
Moses documented the definitive revelation of God for His people and all subsequent prophets were subject to Moses' writings. He also predicted the coming Great Prophet that we must listen to. Concerning this One at the Mount of Transfiguration and with Moses present, God spoke from heaven and told Peter to listen to His Great Prophet, Jesus. In his sermon in Acts, Peter claims that Jesus is the Great Prophet we must listen to; the One that Moses predicted. Hebrews 1 states, "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world."
 
A growing number of people today seek direct interaction with God through mystical practices. This is nothing new; it is simply another attempt to circumvent God's mediator and experience the spiritual directly. As the Scriptures document with both the flood and the captivity, such seeking always leads away from God and into judgment.