The Two Ways

By Mary Small-Burke

Preface — The Way Given and the Way Chosen

Before humanity walked another way, the Father had already provided a way of life.

He had spoken. He had given. He had prepared a place where His goodness could be received and His word could be trusted.

The garden held both abundance and responsibility. Humanity was welcomed into the Father’s provision and entrusted with a place within His creation. The boundary He spoke belonged within that relationship. Life was to be received from Him, and His word was to govern how it was lived.

Then another voice spoke.

It offered a different account of the Father’s word, His warning, and His goodness. What He had forbidden began to appear desirable. Humanity chose, and the consequences reached beyond the moment of eating. Shame entered. People hid. Accusation disturbed the family. In the next generation, a brother’s blood cried from the ground.

Scripture follows that departure as it unfolds. It reveals how a word received becomes a choice, how a choice becomes a way of living, and how that way affects others. Yet through the account of human resistance, the Father continues to speak. He warns before destruction, exposes what has been hidden, and calls people to return.

This study follows the way He gave, the departure from it, and the hope of coming home. We begin with creation, listen to the competing voice in the garden, consider the fruit that reaches the brother, and follow the call to return through Yeshua.

The story begins with the Father’s provision. Its hope rests in the way He has provided to bring His family near.

1. The Way Was Given Before It Was Walked

The first thing humanity received was life.

Adam did not create the garden. He did not cause the trees to grow or appoint himself to bear the Creator’s image. When he entered the story, the Father’s goodness was already before him.

Genesis 1:26–31 shows humanity receiving blessing and responsibility. Genesis 2:8–17 brings us into the garden, where provision, work, and a boundary belong together. The Father gives the man a place to tend and food to enjoy. Within that abundance, He also speaks concerning the tree from which the man must not eat.

As The Father’s Appointed Way expresses it:

Life is received before it is ever achieved.

Purpose is given before it can be pursued.

The Father's provision comes before human labor.

— Chapter 1, “In the Beginning, There Was Order.”

The boundary did not erase the gift. It showed that the gift was to be received in relationship with the Giver.

The man could work, cultivate, name, and care for what had been entrusted to him. But the authority to determine the way of life remained with the One who gave it. Psalm 24:1–2 carries the same truth: the earth belongs to the LORD because He established it.

This is the beginning of the appointed way. The Father provides, speaks, and entrusts. Humanity receives, trusts, and walks within what He has given.

The opening chapters of The Father’s Appointed Way keep these things together. His order belongs within His goodness. His instructions concern the life He has provided. To receive His provision while refusing His word would divide what the garden holds together.

But another voice is about to enter that home.

2. Another Word Became Another Way

The serpent did not begin by creating a different world.

He spoke within the world the Father had made. He addressed people who were already living within His provision. And he offered another account of what the Father had said.

Genesis 3:1–6 shows the movement. The command is questioned. The warning concerning death is contradicted. The Father’s motive is presented in a different light. Then the tree is considered according to what it appears to offer: food, beauty, and wisdom.

The Father had spoken concerning death. The fruit appeared desirable.

The Other Way identifies the turning point:

Before humanity walked another way, humanity first listened to another word.

— Movement One, “Another Voice in the Father’s Home.”

The departure began before the eating. A competing word was being received as a trustworthy explanation of life.

This is why the other way must be followed beyond its first promise. The serpent’s account suggested advancement. The next part of the story reveals shame, covering, hiding, and accusation (Genesis 3:7–13). What appeared to offer enlargement began producing distance from the Father and fracture within the human family.

The same concern runs through Scripture. Deuteronomy 13:1–4 warns Israel that an impressive sign cannot make a call to follow other gods faithful. In Matthew 4:1–11, even the use of scriptural words does not make the tempter’s proposal trustworthy. Yeshua answers faithfully and refuses to turn from the Father.

The lesson reaches deeper than the ability to recognize religious language. A voice must be heard in the light of the Father’s word and the allegiance it seeks to form. Something can sound persuasive while leading the heart away from Him.

Yet Genesis does not leave the departure hidden within the heart. The choice enters the life of the family. What began with another word is about to reach the brother.

3. The Way Reaches the Brother

Outside the garden, Cain and Abel bring their offerings before the Father.

Cain becomes angry. His countenance falls. And before anger becomes bloodshed, the Father speaks (Genesis 4:3–7).

There is still an opportunity to hear. There is still an opportunity to receive correction. The warning comes while Cain stands before a choice.

But Cain rises against Abel and kills him.

The Father who called to Adam now addresses Cain concerning his brother. Abel’s blood cries from the ground. The life that Cain has taken is neither unseen nor forgotten (Genesis 4:8–10).

The Other Way draws attention to what has become visible:

The Other Way is becoming visible not merely in what humanity thinks about God, but in what humanity believes it owes another human being.

— Movement Two, “Where Is Abel Thy Brother?”

The departure has reached the brother. Resistance to the Father is now expressed in the treatment of another person.

This movement matters because we can speak about worship while overlooking the lives affected by our choices. Cain’s story will not allow us to keep those matters apart. The Father hears the blood of the brother even when the one responsible tries to deny concern for him.

Yeshua’s teaching about fruit brings this truth into view again (Matthew 7:15–23). A claim must be considered alongside the life it produces. James 3:13–18 describes wisdom through its character: gentleness, peace, mercy, and sincerity. Galatians 5:16–26 shows the difference between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.

This fruit cannot be measured simply by comfort, wealth, or public success. Faithful people suffer. Harmful ways can appear to prosper for a time. Scripture directs attention to what is being formed: love or hatred, truth or deceit, faithfulness or the refusal of correction.

The Father’s appointed way must therefore reach the heart. A change of religious language alone cannot heal the fracture. The life must be brought back under His word, and the heart must receive the work of His Spirit.

The warning to Cain also reminds us of the mercy present in correction. The Father spoke before the blood was shed. His word exposed the danger while there was still an opportunity to turn.

That call to turn remains essential to the story.

4. The Father Has Provided the Way of Return

The account of departure is painful because its consequences are real.

But Scripture also reveals the Father’s call to return. Isaiah 55:6–9 joins the forsaking of an unrighteous way with the promise of mercy and abundant pardon. The invitation comes from the One against whom people have sinned.

In Luke 15:11–24, Yeshua tells of a son who leaves, loses what he received, and comes home. The father sees him while he is still far away and receives him with compassion. Within Yeshua’s response to those criticizing His reception of sinners, the story reveals the joy of receiving the lost (Luke 15:1–2).

The way home rests upon the Father’s mercy. And the Son makes the way of access clear: He is the way to the Father (John 14:6).

The Father’s Appointed Way follows this provision through Yeshua’s sacrifice and the life formed by the Spirit. Its chapter “Once for All” guards an essential truth:

Our obedience matters.

But it does not become another sacrifice for sin.

— Chapter 18, section “We Cannot Add Our Obedience to the Cross.”

Yeshua’s sacrifice is complete. Our obedience adds nothing to its sufficiency. Hebrews 10:19–25 calls us to draw near through His blood, hold fast, and encourage one another in love and good works.

Obedience has its place within that restored life. It does not purchase the welcome. Confession brings what was hidden into the light. Repentance turns from the way that produced the wound. The Spirit forms a walk that human effort alone could not create (1 John 1:5–9; Galatians 5:16–25).

Consequences may still require patient attention. Wrongs may need to be acknowledged, what was taken may need to be restored, and damaged trust may take time to rebuild. Those responses belong to truthful change; they do not become a payment for forgiveness.

The Father’s provision and His call to return belong to one unfolding story. The way He gave reveals His goodness; the fruit of departure reveals the cost of refusing His word. Through Yeshua, the invitation remains to hear Him, turn from the way that leads away, and receive the life He has provided.

The Father’s purpose reaches beyond exposing what went wrong. He is restoring a family. Through Yeshua, He brings us near; by His Spirit, He teaches us to walk in the life He has provided.

Go Deeper — Continue the Study in the Books

The Father’s Appointed Way: Why His Order Must Govern How We Live follows the Father’s provision from creation through the patterns of approach, the need for a changed heart, the work of Yeshua, and the hope of dwelling with Him. Begin with Chapters 1–3 for the garden and the departure. Continue with Chapters 12, 16, and 18 for the way through Yeshua, walking by the Spirit, and His once-for-all sacrifice.

The Other Way: Turning from God, Facing the Consequences, and Hearing His Call to Return follows the growth of departure from its beginning in the garden into the wider life of humanity. Movements One and Two develop the passages summarized here: another voice in the Father’s home and the fracture that reaches the brother. Continue through the book to follow the unfolding consequences and the call to return.

Both books are by Mary Small-Burke. The links open their ministry publication pages for further information.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for the life You have given and the way of return You have provided through Yeshua. Help us hear Your word, receive Your correction, and walk by Your Spirit. Let what we learn bring us nearer to You and teach us to love one another faithfully. Amen.