Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. Genesis 3:1
In this post, we are going to explore the events that transpired that fateful day when Adam and his wife were enticed to sin against God in the Garden of Eden. (In my next post, we will delve into the effects of what happened that day.)
What happened on that day has everything to do with where you and I stand in the kingdom of God. It deserves to be carefully and thoroughly examined. We start in Genesis 3 with a conversation that ensues between the woman and the serpent.
Now the idea that Adam and his wife are engaging in a conversation with a talking snake tends to trip up some of the thinking skeptics in our midst. But perhaps it is not as simple as that.
The word translated serpent here is the Hebrew word nachash, and while it does mean a serpent or a snake, it is derived from another word that is used to describe one who was a whisperer of divine enchantments. It carries with it the idea of a soothsayer, or one who practiced the art of divination. Ah, now we are getting closer to the truth about the nature of our serpent character. We are not talking about your average variety of garden snake. They are having an encounter with the one scripture refers to as “the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan” (Revelation 20:2). The Serpent comes as a slithering, cunning deceiver and is the one the bible calls “the father of the lie” (John 8:44).
And he knows that if he is going to seduce Adam into acting in direct opposition to the will of God, he must first change what Adam believes about God.
It was proven quite painfully to the devil that he did not possess the power to create, it was true. But he did have the power to transform, to corrupt and to destroy. And if he can manage to carry out the plan formulating in his twisted, diabolical mind, he thinks he can terminate the course of human history before it even begins.
And to strike Adam in his most vulnerable place, he approaches his woman.
“Indeed,” comes the slow, seductive whispers from the misty shadows, “has God said, ‘You shall not eat from EVERY tree of the Garden’? You can eat from ALL of them, is that right? I mean, they are all quite lovely… and delicious.”
“Well no.”, she confesses honestly, “We can eat from all but one.”
“Oh? Isn’t that interesssting… Well, I must sssay, that is just like Him.”
“What do you mean?” is the inquisitive reply.
“Oh nothing, really. I only mean that it is just like Him to withhold the best.”
“All the Father does and gives is good,” she replies. “He has provided all for us. What do you mean He withholds the best? What does He deny us?”
“Well, let me just say that I know your Father in a way you do not. He and I have a story of our own, you know. There was a thing, a thing that should have been mine, a best thing… it should have been mine! And yet… it was withheld from me. Maybe He is not who you think He is…”
A penetrating pause follows.
He breaks her gaze as if to peer into the distant past. She ponders the ground under her feet.
“He said that we should not eat from it or even touch it, or we would die.” She responds quietly.
“Oh? He sssaid THAT? Hmmm… Well, I must say, it does sssound like His words, ever so dramatic as they may be. You WON’T die. Believe me. No, but you WILL become LIKE Him!” The lies slip effortlessly from the tip of his forked tongue. “Your eyesss will be open, your mind, expanded, and the hidden mysteries of the worlds within your grasp! You will know what HE knows! Of COURSE, He withholds that! Where would His power over you then be?”
The serpentine enchanter could barely contain his fiendish enthusiasm.
The soil had been tilled. The seeds sown. Now to wait patiently and reap the fruit of his wicked labors.
Contemplating what she has just heard; she cautiously approaches the tree. Around and around she walks, looking, studying, yet inching ever closer to it. She can smell its fragrance. She can see how delicate and inviting the fruit appears; indeed, it is a delight to her eyes. The desire for it, and for the knowledge it promises, intensifies within her. It has become an obsession, the thought of it consumes her. The other fruit of the Garden all at once seems inadequate and unattractive. Every natural sense she possesses holds her in strange bondage to this one tree.
Adam sees her. The bible says he is with her. He witnesses the whole unfolding scene. He, too, is captivated by the wonder of this one forbidden thing. Without realizing it, he too has become entangled in the sticky web of the enchanter. The questions of God’s essence penetrate his mind, doubt about His goodness take root in his heart. “Has God been withholding what is best from us? Is He denying us our full potential? Is He really who He claims? Can He be trusted?”
She reaches. The fruit is in her hand, its skin struggles to contain the juices that subtly drips onto her fingers. She raises it to her face and breathes in its intoxicating aroma. The man’s eyes are fixed on it and desire swells within him. She raises the fruit to her mouth, inch by inch, ever so close, until finally the skin touches her lips. There for a moment she hesitates.
She knows the point she has come to. She knows that she is one fraction away from… something. One bite… and then… what?
Why on earth doesn’t the man stop her? Why doesn’t he reach out and slap that thing out of her hand?!
Because the serpent enchants from the shifting shadows. Provocative whispers slither out of the darkness, “Go on, do it. Taste of freedom from your limitations. Break free of the bonds that keep you from your rights and your power!”
Teeth part and sink into the tender fruit. She sees the longing in Adam’s eyes and with one outstretched hand, delivers to him. He receives it, pauses ever so slightly, yet within seconds succumbs to the same lustful temptation.
And in that instant, it is over.
Pieces of its flesh are still in their teeth. They have scarcely swallowed before the gravity of what has transpired bears upon them with the greatest of force. She sinks to the ground, crushed beneath the weight of her guilt. He collapses beside her, fallen. The hard realization of what they have just done presses brutally upon them. They could not have anticipated the severity of this pain.
Fallen. Oh God, it is true.
So, this was sin. This was death.
“But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” James 1:14-15