OUR
FATHER'S
WORD
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light
unto my path."
Psalm 119:105
________________________________________________________________________________
Genesis
A Message For The End Time
by
Jim Lisenby
________________________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 3
Enter The Serpent
Things need to be said before we get into this lesson.
We have to be open-minded with the story of Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden, and with the entire Bible for that matter. It is
obvious even to the casual reader that the story of Adam and Eve in the
Garden is a mythical report, filled with legend and symbolism, but I
steadfastly believe that there we can find truth concerning the origin
of the Adamic people and that of the descendants of Cain. Yes,
there are some problems, but we can work through them with patience.
The Bible is a book that has been translated from ancient
documents (some iffy like Esther) that
have been handled by literally thousands of hands, perhaps more.
Here we are dealing
with Genesis, a book that was probably originally written about 3,500
years ago, and everything was as different then compared to today as
daylight is from dark. The early chapters
of Genesis are as cryptic as the
book of Revelation so we must be flexible in dealing with
them. The way they thought back then and
the stories that they told and wrote
about seem rather fanciful, but that doesn't mean that they aren't
viable. So try to keep an open mind, and above
all, try to lay aside the traditions of men
that tend to cloud our thinking.
I hope that you went to ourfathersword.org
and read my introduction to the studies on Revelation like I suggested
in my introduction to Genesis. Especially the part on reality, and
what
reality is to us. Our world is so different to that world 3,500
years ago
when Genesis was first written.
Now, having said all that, let's jump into chapter 3 and see what Adam
and Eve are doing.
Gen. 3:1 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?
I can tell you right up front that serpent here
does not actually mean a snake, although that tradition has come down
to us from antiquity, and even appears in the book of
Revelation. The word serpent
here is translated from the
Hebrew word nachash
(Strong's No. 5175) which has been traditionally translated as serpent.
There is an extradordinary appendix discussing the serpent in The Companion Bible.
It is Appendix 19. Nachash there
is said to meaning shining
one and it presents a very strong argument for that.
The word nachash
is related to the Hebrew word for copper (a shiny
metal), and also it means to hiss, also to enchant or charm.
When you think about it, all these things are attributed to
snakes. They have to molt, or shed their skins as they grow, and
when they do they glisten and shine like a new penny. And when
they hiss at you it sends a chill down your spine, and can cause one to
freeze in their tracks. Small mammals often become immobilized
through fear when confronted with a snake.
If you are lucky enough to have a copy of The Companion Bible
you should study Appendix 19. It is well worth the time. If
you do not possess a copy of The Companion Bible,
I suggest that you get one.
Most humans have an almost paranoid fear of snakes, of any
kind, and it doesn't matter to us if they are good or bad, poisonous or
non-poisonous, they are loathsome creatures to be avoided. In
most cases when found they are killed regardless of whether they are
poisonous or not. Many people will tell you very quickly that
"the only good snake is a dead snake".
So it was over time that the Hebrew word nachash became
associated with a serpent in ancient times, and Moses presents the shining one
here as a snake. That shining one is Lucifer of course, and that
carries on throughout the Bible where he is often referred to as a
serpent, as well as many other things, none of which are good.
Sad when you consider that Lucifer once was a magnificent cherub
with incredible beauty, intelligence, and talent. An angel of light,
the apostle Paul called him.
2 Cor. 11:14 And
no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Unfortunately, he is also the
confirmed and dedicated enemy of God, and of mankind, and to me that
makes him
ummm, well
maybe
not so smart after all. He is referred to as a serpent many
times in
the Bible, as well as other things such as a tree, a cherub, a king, a
prince, a dragon, a beast, a devil, a thorn, and of
course
Satan.
He is present in the Garden here because something very
important is going on.
The woman here represents the one that we traditionally know today as
Eve. More on
her name later. She had to be impressed and intimidated with such
a magnificent, shining, powerful and wise creature standing before her,
and talking with her. Remember the word nachash also
means charmer
or enchanter.
He asked her the question in verse 1 in such a way so as to unsettle
her, essentially chiding her because God had told Adam not to
eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Gen.
3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit
of the trees of the garden:
Gen.
3:3 But of the fruit 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.
She may have been challenged, perturbed, and even frustrated
by his question, but she answered him correctly here. I want you
to remember the word touch in this
verse. It is very important later. It is translated from
the Hebrew word naga
(Strong's No. 5060) and it essentially means to touch or to lay the hand upon
more than anything else, but it also has other meanings. One of
those other meanings, according to Dr. Strong, is to lie with a woman.
It becomes significant in the lesson on chapter 4.
Gen.
3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen.
3:5 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 and evil.
Betcha can't tell me from what Hebrew word God and gods are translated. Aw
shucks, you got me. Yep, you're right, it's ol' number 430 again
'elohim. He told
her that she and Adam would be like the 'elohim, or the gods, and it is
entirely possible that she may have been familiar with them.
Remember that they were still in the Garden at this time. They
had not been cast out yet.
Can you grasp the seriousness of what is happening
here? Lucifer, that old enemy, the evil one, has just
contradicted
what God has told Adam and Eve to avoid. Partaking of the evil
one, him! The tree of the knowledge of good and evil symbolically
represented him because he is a mixture of good and evil. He
appears to be so good, and so righteous, but in fact he is bad to the
bone.
He is also a psychology major, and more, and the woman was an easy mark
for him. He got to her first by challenging her right to do
things, and how much freedom she actually had. Sound
familiar? Now, in these verses he is openly challenging God's
authority and even calling Him a liar. What blasphemy!
But more than that, he convinced her to do something that was to have
far-reaching consequences. We'll get to that in the next lesson.
Gen.
3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and
that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired 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.
It worked! She believed Lucifer. There is a lot
more meaning in this verse than appears. Not only did she commit
an unfaithful act with serious implications for the future, but she
somehow persuaded Adam to go along with it. Big mistake!
Gen.
3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that
they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons.
What they did caused them to be ashamed and
they felt compelled to cover up their private parts as signified
by the word apron.
They were
trying to cover up
the area of their sin, and even today we refer to a cover-up as a fig leaf.
Gen.
3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the
garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the
garden.
When we sin we want to hide from God, don't we? They
were no exception. Their innocence was now gone and they felt
guilty and ashamed.
Gen.
3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where
art thou?
Gen.
3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was
afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Gen.
3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou
eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
Gen.
3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me,
she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Look at ol' Adam tap dance here. He had an excuse, he
blamed the woman for his lack of discretion. Typical human trait,
isn't it? We are never guilty, it is always someone else's fault.
Gen.
3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou
hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
We will get to what she had done in the next lesson, but for
now substitute the word seduced for beguiled.
It is translated from the Hebrew word nasha'
(Strong's No. 5377) and basically means to deceive which
it is translated 75% of the time it is used. But it also means to morally seduce according
to Dr. Strong and that would be an appropriate meaning here as you will
soon see.
Gen.
3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast
done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of
the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all
the days of thy life:
The beautiful and shining Lucifer was now brought lower than
cow patties. Cursed by God and no doubt ostracized by the 'elohim, he
would now spend a lot of time in hell separated from the glory that he
once knew as one of the two cherubim that covered God's throne.
Look at what God said concerning him by Ezekiel.
Ezek. 28:14 Thou
art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou
wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the
midst of the stones of fire.
What an honored position he once held.
Gen.
3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel.
Men have waxed eloquent in their commentary and preaching on
this verse, how that the serpent would strike the heel of her Seed, and
how He would crush the serpents head. The heel is the lowest part
of the body, and a wound there, though painful, is usually not life
threatening. But the head is the center of our consciousness, it
houses and protects the brain and it is a critical area, perhaps the
most critical of all. A crushed head usually ends in death,
especially for snakes.
Curiously, these same things are pictured in the zodiac, which is the
story written in the heavens of the One who was to come and destroy the
evil one. In the sign of Scorpio there is the constellation
Hercules
the mighty one. In his
book The Witness
Of The Stars (by Kregel Publications), Dr. E. W. Bullinger
speaks of this Hercules.
"Here the mighty one, who occupies a large portion of the heavens, is
seen bending on one knee, with his right heel lifted up as if it had
been wounded, while his left foot is set directly over the head of the
great dragon."
Dr.
Bullinger's book, The
Witness Of The Stars is
recommended reading. He is also the man, and prime mover,
who originally brought forth The
Companion Bible
that I highly recommend. If you feel led to purchase The Companion Bible
be sure that it is the correct one. Mine was published by Kregel
Publications. Curiously, Dr. Bullinger's name is not mentioned in
it even though he was the one who produced the thing way back in the
latter part of the nineteeth century.
The reason I caution you is that there may be other essentially useless
works out there called a companion bible,
or something like it. Most book store personnel are not familiar
with it so be cautious. It is the KJV with 198 Appendices in the
back, and with copious notes throughout both the Old and New
Testaments. It retails for somewhere between $55.00 to $100.00
depending on how fancy you want to make it.
Gen.
3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow
and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy
desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
The
second clause specifies the penalty
for what she had done, it was sexual in nature and related directly to
her bearing children. Notice especially that God strictly
commanded her to henceforth focus her desire (sexual) on her husband
and no one else, and she was to submit to his rule. She, perhaps
in ignorance, grossly violated those two things in her relationship
with Lucifer.
That may make a few people uneasy, or even mad, but I'm not going to
apologize for God. He said it, I didn't.
Gen.
3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the
voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded
thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy
sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Now it is Adam's turn to be chastized. It reminds me of
the lyrics to a song that Nina Simone sings about this situation in the
Garden of Eden. She sings, "Oh, you went and did
it, and now you gonna git it". Well, she is right, Adam is "gonna
git it".
What punishment! Adam was to become a tiller of the ground, and
unlike in the Garden, he would now have to contend with weeds and such
as he makes his living from it.
Gen.
3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and
thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
The thorns and thistles here are especially pernicious and
annoying weeds that stick and prick. In a greater sense they also
represent something far more troublesome and that is the offspring of
Lucifer as you will soon see.
Gen.
3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou
return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou
art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Adam and Eve lost their right to the Garden, and to the Tree
of Life. No more simple hunting and
gathering and eating of the trees in the Garden. Adam would now
have to grow his food in the field where it would be subject to many
destructive things, and eat bread made from the grain which he would
laboriously have to harvest and thresh.
Gen. 3:20 And
Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all
living.
The name of the woman Eve is
translated from the Hebrew Chavvah, so why
do we call her Eve? What was wrong with Chavvah
(Strong's No. 2332)? It essentially means life, life-giver, or
perhaps even
life-spring. There is more talk to the last clause
of this verse. Obviously she was not the mother of all
living. Look around you and see all the different people.
She was however the mother of all the Adamic people, and sadly she was
also the mother of that evil one, Cain.
Gen.
3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats
of skins, and clothed them.
Gen.
3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of
us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and
take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
What a curious verse. The LORD God here in verse 22 is Yahweh 'Elohim,
the one and only I
AM. This is the first time that the name of the Covenant
God has been used. Moses had to supply that name here because no
one before him knew God by that name (see Ex. 6:3). But who was
He talking to? The others that were collectively called 'elohim, or gods, of
course. Those who comprised the family, or Kingdom of God.
He made the decision to eject Adam and Eve from the Garden, and to deny
them access to the Tree of Life.
Gen.
3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of
Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Adam went from the gardener of Paradise, to a dirt farmer.
Gen.
3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the
garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way,
to keep the way of the tree of life.
Not only did He drive him out but placed security guards to
keep him out.
Now, was the Garden of Eden a real place, and did Adam and Eve actually
live there? The way it is described and presented to us is
figurative of course, but the mythical place called Paradise, or Heaven
the
abode of God, has always been thought to exist. And biologically
speaking there had to be a man and a woman from which the Adamic race
came.
Moses probably didn't know all the microcosmic details, but he could
see what was around him, and he knew what he had learned from the
scholars of his day in Egypt and elsewhere. He gave it to us just
as the storytellers of his time would have told it within the confines
of what they knew as reality.
There may be something else. Moses was up on Mt. Sinai for at
least 40 days, and perhaps as much as 80 days. It is said that he
spoke with God face-to-face during that time, so perhaps God told him
to write it the way he did. Who knows? In any case, it is
figurative in style but with a literal intent. Work with it.
Don't miss the next lesson that continues with the story of Adam and
Eve, and with Cain and Abel.
God bless with
understanding
of His word.
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2005 by Jim
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