Genesis 3:1-3:5

2006.Jun.11 17:52

Deception #1

Read Genesis 3:1-5 | Full Chapter

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
(Genesis 3:1-5, NASB)

I’m not altogether sure what to make of the serpent here, especially in regards to whether it is Satan. There are a few references that, to me, sort of support that idea: Isaiah 27:1 (with a handful of assumptions), Revelations 12:9, Revelations 20:2. Revelations 12:9 uses the phrase "the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world" (Revelations 12:9) , and 20:2 uses a similar phrase to the first clause. I realize that much of what I think I know about Satan comes not from the Bible, but “Christian literature” and what other Christians have said. Much as I want, then, to explore the serpents and/or Satan’s motivations, I don’t feel that it would be useful beside so many question marks. So, for now, I’ll be the literalist. It’s a snake. With legs.

So, the serpent comes up to the woman (Eve) and engages her in a not quite fascinating tete-a-tete. “Did God say don’t eat from a tree?” “Yep, Jehovah said don’t eat from this tree. We’ll die if we do.” “No, you won’t. You’ll be like God.” “Oh, okie-doke.” The serpent may be the craftiest beast, but this wasn’t actually a brillant, subtle deception. The fact that it worked may testify to these thoughts already existing in the minds of Adam and Eve. After all, God walks around with them regularly, and they are friends, but they’re also aware that they are clearly not God. And the tree is a glaring testimony thereunto. All the serpent had to do (I’m guessing) is give a little more push to the idea.

Let’s face it, we as humans are easily deceived into sinning. We want to. I think that has a lot to do with our wanting to be as Jehovah; in any case, it happens. Paul brings this home to me, especially as we Christians often operate, with the warning that "I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3, NASB) . I don’t necessarily believe that we’re all paying for Adam & Eve’s sin. I believe we all commit that primal sin over and over. We choose to disobey God because we believe that in doing so, we will gain something which he will not give us.

I want to also note that the serpent targets the woman, as I have no doubt that either Adam or Eve would have fallen for his line. If the stuff I wrote about last week–that of men in the image of God as groom, woman in the image of humanity as bride–is accurate, it begs the question of whether the serpent deliberately targeted woman in her role as bride in his acting to disrupt the marriage of God and humanity. But Jehovah wasn’t unawares to all these goings on, or even surprised by their happening. I believe it was all part of his plan.