Read Genesis 2:16-17,  and Genesis 3:1-6 (see also John 8:44). Compare the words of God’s commandment to Adam with the serpent’s words to the woman. What are the differences between the speeches, and what is the meaning of these differences?

Note the parallels between God’s conversation with Adam (Genesis 2:16-17) and Eve’s conversation with the serpent. It is as if the serpent has now replaced God and knows even better than He does. At first, he merely asked a question, implying that the woman had, perhaps, misunderstood God. But then Satan openly questioned God’s intentions and even contradicted Him.

Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com

Satan’s attack concerns two issues, death and the knowledge of good and evil. While God clearly and emphatically stated that their death would be certain (Genesis 2:17), Satan said that, on the contrary, they wouldn’t die, all but implying that humans were immortal (Genesis 3:4). While God forbade Adam to eat from the fruit (Genesis 2:17), Satan encouraged them to eat the fruit because by eating of it they would be like God (Genesis 3:5).

Satan’s two arguments, immortality and being like God, convinced Eve to eat the fruit. It is troubling that as soon as the woman decided to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit, she behaved as if God were no longer present and had been replaced by herself. The biblical text alludes to this shift of personality. Eve uses God’s language: Eve’s evaluation of the forbidden fruit, “saw that … was good” (Genesis 3:6), reminds of God’s evaluation of His creation, “saw … that it was good” (Genesis 1:4, etc.).

These two temptations, that of being immortal and of being like God, are at the root of the idea of immortality in ancient Egyptian and Greek religions. The desire for immortality, which they believed was a divine attribute, obliged these people to seek divine status as well, in order (they hoped) to acquire immortality. Surreptitiously, this way of thinking infiltrated Jewish-Christian cultures and has given birth to the belief in the immortality of the soul, which exists even today in many churches.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

Amen!(2)

The post Monday: The Forbidden Fruit appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/monday-forbidden-fruit/

Read Genesis 3:1, 2 Corinthians 11:3, and Revelation 12:7-9. Who is the serpent, and how does he deceive Eve?

The text begins with “the serpent.” The syntax of the phrase suggests emphasis: the word “serpent” is the first word of the sentence. Also, “the serpent” has the definite article, indicating that this is a well-known figure, as if the reader should already know who he is. The reality of this being is, thus, affirmed from the first word of the chapter.

Image © Lars Justinen at Goodsalt.com

Of course, the Scriptures identify the serpent as the enemy of God (Isaiah 27:1) and explicitly call him “the Devil and Satan” (Revelation 12:9, NKJV). Likewise, in the ancient Near East, the serpent personified the power of evil.

“In order to accomplish his work unperceived, Satan chose to employ as his medium the serpent — a disguise well adapted for his purpose of deception. The serpent was then one of the wisest and most beautiful creatures on the earth. It had wings, and while flying through the air presented an appearance of dazzling brightness, having the color and brilliancy of burnished gold.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 53.

When talking about the devil, in whatever form he appears, the Bible is not talking mere metaphor. In Scripture Satan is depicted as a literal being and not just some rhetorical symbol or an abstract principle to depict evil or humanity’s dark side.

The serpent does not present himself as an enemy of God. On the contrary, the serpent refers to God’s words, which he repeats and seems to support. That is, right from the start, we can see that Satan likes to quote God and, as shall later be seen, even quotes the Word of God itself (Matthew 4:6).

Note also that the serpent does not argue immediately with the woman, but he asks a question that implies that he believes in what the Lord has said to them. After all, he asked: “Has God indeed said … ” (Genesis 3:1, NKJV)? Thus, even from the start we can see just how cunning and deceitful this being was. And, as we will see, it worked too.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Amen!(0)

The post Sunday: The Serpent appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sunday-serpent/