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as the woman decided to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit, she behaved as if God were no longer present and had been replaced by herself.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–>

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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–>

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Image © Pacific Press

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 3:1-24; 2 Corinthians 11:3; Revelation 12:7-9; John 8:44; Romans 16:20; Hebrews 2:14; 1 Timothy 2:14-15.

Memory Text: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15, NKJV).

Amid all that God had given our first parents in Eden came also a warning: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17, , NKJV). This warning against eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil shows us that, though they were to know good, they were not to know evil.

We certainly can understand why, can’t we?

And, too, the threat of death attached to the warning about disobedience (Genesis 2:17) would be fulfilled: they will die (Genesis 3:19). Not only forbidden to eat from the tree, they were also driven from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24), and thus had no access to what could have given them eternal life as sinners (Genesis 3:22).

However, amid this tragedy comes hope, which is found in Genesis 3:15, called the protoevangelium, or “the first gospel promise.” Yes, this verse presents the first gospel promise found in the Bible, the first time humans are told that, despite the Fall, God has made a way of escape for us all.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 9.

Sunday–>

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p>Support for the mission activities of the Seventh-day Adventist church has always been part of the Sabbath School program. This video is Mission Spotlight for this week.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0_EmtjC-5M&w=560&h=315]

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Mocked for the Sabbath

By Andrew McChesney

Students mocked the Laissa Samila Yassine for skipping classes on Saturdays in Mozambique. “You came here to this university to study, not to follow your church’s teachings,” said one. “You’re crazy,” said another.

Image © Pacific Press

It all began when Laissa was struggling with her mechanical engineering studies during her first semester at a public university and she found relief listening to music shared by a Seventh-day Adventist classmate, Belizario. Then she and Belizario began to study the Bible together. Laissa had other new friends, and they also studied the Bible.

The more she studied, the more she felt confused. The two Bible studies didn’t agree on the Sabbath. She quit both to search the Bible for herself. Prayerfully, she read the fourth commandment in Exodus 20:8-11, which begins, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (NKJV). She read the Lord’s call in Isaiah 58:1-3 to “turn away … from doing your pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath a delight” and Jesus’ words, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). She decided to keep the Sabbath.

At first, Laissa hid her decision. She was afraid of being ridiculed, and she didn’t want to ask teachers to be excused from Saturday classes. She also worried about what her parents would say. However, she couldn’t keep her convictions to herself for long, and she announced at the end of the second semester that she would become an Adventist. Her worst fears materialized. Former friends taunted her and, when they saw her walking with Belizario, sneered, “Oh, those Adventists.” Teachers refused to reschedule Saturday classes, and her grades dropped. “If you don’t like it here, just leave,” teachers said. Her mother was furious, and her father disowned her.

Then Laissa met a visiting student from Mozambique Adventist University at her church on Sabbath. She was excited to learn about an Adventist university in Mozambique, and she begged her mother to allow her to transfer. Her mother initially refused but unexpectedly changed her mind after Laissa, like Queen Esther, prayed and fasted for three days for God to intervene. A short time after changing universities, she told her mother that she no longer needed help with expenses. Her new library job covered her costs. Her mother was astonished. “Indeed, the Lord is not your stepfather but your real Father,” she said.

Laissa, 22, now a second-year nutrition major, plans to become a missionary in Mozambique, where malnutrition is a serious problem.

Part of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering three years ago helped Mozambique Adventist University expand its nutrition department with new classrooms and equipment.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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