Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good from evil.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. Genesis 3: 1-7
Do not think of the serpent as a repellent snake. The serpent could very well have been Adam and Eve’s favorite animal. Which is why Satan took the serpent as his disguise – and was there in the garden from the beginning. His whole plan was to sow seeds of doubt. This is also the reason he approached Eve, rather than Adam. The Bible states that women are the “weaker vessel.” – 1 Peter 3:7.
Satan used a three-pronged attack on Eve’s will:
- lust of the flesh – “the tree was good for food.“
- lust of the eyes – “it was pleasant to the eyes.”
- pride of life - “ye shall be as gods“; “and a tree desired to make one wise.”
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 1 John 2: 16
Eve is deceived - Adam is not. . .but they both sinned.
“Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” 1 Timothy 2:14
What happened when Adam and Eve took the fruit?
They became self-conscious, rather than God-conscious.
“What the man and woman immediately acquired was the now predominant trait of self-consciousness. God-consciousness has been lost, and henceforth self-contemplation is to be the characteristic and bane of mankind, laying the foundation for those inner feelings for mental states comprehended under the term unhappiness, and for all the external strivings whereby effort is made to attain a better condition. “ John M. Gray, Christian Worker’s Commentary on the Bible
“Instead of seeking God and openly confessing their guilt, they attempted to conceal it both from Him and from themselves. Such has ever been the way of natural man.” Arthur W. Pink, Gleanings in Genesis
It is still the plan of Satan to cast doubt on God’s Word. In seminaries, Sunday school classes, and Christian Colleges – the Word of God is questioned, critiqued, twisted, and even mocked. From the very beginning – it has been Satan’s method to lie, contradict, or cast doubt on the infallible, inspired, Word of God.
Yea, hath God said?
For ever,
O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven.
Psalm 119: 89
sage
Not to mention the latest forms of such attack: Saul Anlinsky, the Occupy Wall Street weirdness and most left/liberals in general lately.
Yes, Anon – they do his will. . .
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8: 44
Or as some else (who’s probably frying now) put it…
“God is on your side? Is He a Conservative? The Devil’s on my side, he’s a good Communist.” –Joseph Stalin
Magnificent, sage!
Your point about self-consciousness overtaking God-consciousness is most interesting, as I believe that the Original Sin bequeathed by Adam and Eve on all humanity is that of self-love, aka Narcissism, the root of all evil. Self-love or self-idolatry is also an offense against the First Commandment: “Thou shall have no gods before Me.”
Yes, yes and yes, Eowyn. Throughout the Bible, this self-consciousness is equated with idolatry, which is of course against the first, and most important of the Ten Commandments.
Idolatry was the sin that delivered Israel into bondage over and over again. And – there are so-o-o many different kinds of bondage.
Skippy sure has that sin mastered…
Good post sage!
Fabulous and really straightforward. Can you elaborate on the fact that Adam was not “in the transgression”? He partook of the fruit and was kicked out on account of his part in the disobedience, but was not “in” the transgression. How does that work? If you don’t have time to explain this then that’s fine, the word will do just fine. Thanks a lot for the hard work you put into this.
Alice – I always have time to talk about Him!!
The lesson from 1 Timothy 2:14, was not stating that Adam was not in the transgression. It was explaining from 9-15, the place and dress of women within the church body. Modesty is stressed, and a meek spirit – and the reason women are not allowed to preach in church – is because “the woman was deceived.” Adam knew what he was doing when he sinned – Eve was tricked. It is the gullibility of women that is the core issue.
Sin comes to us through Adam – not Eve. That is how our Savior could be born into humanity – completely sinless, yet clothed with human flesh.
This is a great problem within the church today – as far as I know – only the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Baptists have resisted the feminization of the church, but there are signs they are weakening. This is blasphemy.
Goodness, more food for thought. I will check out the things that I don’t understand in your response before I ask any more questions. The part about sin coming through Adam is mind blowing. Recently from Atlah World Ministries they did a series of lessons on Bathsheba, and it was interesting in connection what you said about Eve, that the blame wasn’t laid on her, and she was important as the mother of Solomon. There is so much to learn and sometimes it’s overwhelming to absorb these things which are about principle as well as lessons about human behavior as
God sees it. Thanks again so much for your help. ITNOJ
Wonderful Sage!
It’s true how Satan can deceive in the most ‘appealing’ ways. As he was created as the Angel of Light, and THE most beautiful of all of God’s angels. He uses those ways that are appealing, or attractive, or otherwise more tempting because it is his way of leading those to sin. He realizes that the things that are appealing are going to be easier for him to hopefully cause us to. The perception of him with horns and red w/a pitchfork are misleading as he is quite the opposite…only his mind and will are what is vile and evil…the otherwise ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ .