World War Z came out recently and it's apparently
about the end of the world[i].
People get a virus that turns them into zombies and the zombie people try to
eat/kill/infect every other person on the planet. (Apparently of all the people
groups in the world, zombies are the most intolerant). Zombies or no zombies, I'm sure you've all seen a
movie, read a book, or watched a television show about the end of the world.
The scene is dramatic, people are sick or dying or both, everyone is crying,
the music is compelling, and the feeling conveyed is that this is the worst
possible moment of all time. We've all heard about or seen movies
about the end of the world and we're always made to feel like it's the worst
point ever in history where everything is ruined, destroyed, and hopeless.
Usually that involves zombies, nuclear missiles, war, famine, bullets, blood,
and explosions. Well I wanted to throw a wrench into everyone's apocalyptic
thinking. I think the worst moment in human history did not involve zombies, Nazis,
nuclear bombs, or alien war lords who wanted to take over earth. I submit the
worst day in human history happened in a garden, and simply involved a man, a
woman, and a snake.
First we’re going to look at what happened in Genesis
3. Then we’ll look at the results of what happened, (next blog).
Genesis 3 Click the link to read the passage. Please read it if you haven't. It's not that long and this blog isn't going anywhere, (unless of course I get eaten by a zombie in the next 5 minutes).
Quick
Recap: God makes creation and it's all good. God makes man, which is good, but
man needs a corresponding helper, so God makes woman, which is AWESOME. God looks over all
creation and says, "It is VERY GOOD." God also told man to tend the
garden, eat whatever fruit he wanted, "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
2:17). So God makes a good world, gives man and woman everything they need and
gives them only one command to follow. So everything is groovy. If man can just
obey God in this one matter, he won't die. Seems easy enough, right? Well...
3:1 "Now the
serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God
had made,"[ii]
Keeping in mind that Satan wants to destroy and corrupt what God has made, we look at what happens.
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| Courtesty the bricktestament.com |
3:1-4, "He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of
the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the
fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch
it, lest you die.’”
Several things here:
1.
Why wasn't Eve disturbed by a talking snake? I’m
just saying it’s weird.
2.
The snake approaches Eve. This is subtle, but
important. God has made Adam as his representative ruler on earth. Man was
given the task of tending and keeping the garden. Adam was the one given the
authority to name all the animals of creation. It was to Adam who God gave a
helper, (Eve), not the other way around. I’m not on a male power trip here, I
trying to illustrate the order and structure God had put in creation. Satan
goes to Eve instead of Adam, subtly going against God’s created order. If Satan
had any issues with God’s care of his creation he should have gone to God
first, or Adam second. The created order was God>Adam>Eve, and Satan wasn't in the picture. So now Satan comes along and the order is Satan>Eve>Adam,
with God out of the picture. As a friend of mine would say, “This is bad news
bears”.
3.
Satan directly challenges the validity of what
God had said. “Did God actually say?”
At the outset the devil is challenging the authority and truthfulness of God’s
word. He will continue to use this tactic throughout history, both from outside
God’s people and even from within. I would venture to say there is no other
book than the Bible that has been so challenged, vilified, and disputed
throughout all history.
4.
Eve, apparently not disturbed by the talking
snake, responds by adding to God’s
commandment. Eve tells the serpent that not only can they not eat from the
tree “in the midst of the garden”, but they also can’t even touch it. Thus
begins the creation of humanistic religious standards. If you’re reading at
home, throw your hands in the air and say, ‘Oh crap!’ Eve, (not to pick on
women, b/c men do it just as much or more), added to God’s stated word/command.
She created for herself rules that God never mentioned and man has been doing
it ever since. Now if you research any religious system you will find a list of
commands a mile high and just as wide. Even Judaism and Christianity, which
originate in the Bible, find themselves corrupted by adding on of commands and
standards of what it means to be spiritual and close to God.
Things are not starting off well here. Unfortunately, they’re
about to get worse…
“But the serpent said
to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of
it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (v4)
The devil starts out challenging the God’s order structure
in creation, and then subtly challenges the truth of God’s given commandment, and
then he gets Eve to add on to what God had said. So far, he’s batting 3-3. Now
he goes for the home run. He straight out disputes the truth of God and
challenges God’s character. He says “You won’t die”. In other words, God is
lying to you. God has told you something and it is not true. The implication is
that God cannot be trusted. Secondly, he tells Eve that if she eats of the
fruit of this tree, not only will she not die, but she will be like God. What’s
the implication here? It is that God is not only lying, but that he is not
good. God, according to Satan, is holding out on you. He doesn't want what is
best for you. He doesn't want you to be happy. He is a liar and he is unloving.
Interestingly enough, Satan is the one who is a liar and who is hateful, not
God. Now, as we looked at earlier, with the order structure, Eve trusts and
obeys Satan, who is seeking her destruction, instead of trusting and obeying
God, who made her, loves her, and knows what is best for her.[iii]
“So when the woman saw
that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and
that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and
ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then
the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they
sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”
Eve, now rejecting what God has said and trusting the
serpent/devil, sees the following:
1.
The fruit is good.
2.
The fruit looks good.
3.
The tree will make me wise, (or like God,
according to Satan).
Let’s compare this with a Christian teacher named John, also
one of Jesus’ closest friends on earth, and what he had to say about temptation
some 4,000 years later in 1 John 2:16-17:
“For all that is in
the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride
of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the
world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God
abides forever.”
1.
The desires of the flesh – Eve saw the tree was
good, (Lust).
2.
The desires of the eyes – The tree was a delight
to the eyes, (Greed).
3.
The pride of life – Eve saw the tree, (she
thought), would make her wise, (Pride)
Apparently the devil hasn't changed his tactics because they
have worked so well throughout history.
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| This guy also didn't listen. |
Poor Eve. She’s been getting herself into some trouble here.
If only there was someone who could step in and provide wise and loving
leadership in this situation. If only there was some sort of friend who also knew
of God’s commands and could help Eve stand strong against temptation. If only…Oh
wait, there’s Adam, he’ll sort it out. Adam, tell that woman to stop talking to
that snake and get away from that tree. Adam, what are you doing? Why are you
messing with that fruit? Put it down! Don’t eat it? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So here not only is there a failure on the woman’s part, but
the man was apparently there the whole time and failed to provide loving and
helpful leadership. Adam should have ripped that snake’s head off and stood up
for God’s truth. He should have confronted the snake on his lies. He should
have told Eve, “Listen, I know this all sounds good, but God is good, he loves
us, and he knows what is best for us. We need to listed to and trust God.” But
what did Adam do, he kept his mouth shut, allowed the serpent to speak, and
listened to his wife when she gave him the forbidden fruit to eat. Absolutely
wonderful, (sarcasm).
What are the lessons to be learned here?
1.
I don’t care how many cartoons you've seen,
NEVER, EVER talk to snakes.
2.
Don’t add to what God has said. Men get
themselves and others in trouble when they start adding commandments or rules
that God didn't provide.
3.
The created order was distorted by Satan and he
has kept it up ever since. Satan is seeking to distort the image of man.
4.
Satan is seeking to distort the image of God by
lying about his character and his truthfulness.
5.
God did not fail man. Man failed God. God had
given one command to obey and simply asked to be trusted, but man failed. (Warning:
this will be a running theme).
Next time: The results, but not in a 'who won the prize' kind of way, more like a "your cholesterol results are in and we think you should be hospitalized" sort of way.
[i]
Personally I’m more excited about The Wolverine.
[ii]
This blog isn't big enough to do a full out explanation of the serpent, but
there is a general agreement that Satan had possessed or was using this
particular snake to do his bidding. I promise to do a follow up blog on angels
and Satan, but for now let's just run with the premise that snake = Satan/the
devil. Satan, if you don't know, was a fallen angel who attempted to rule over
heaven in God's place. God, being God, smites him and kicks him out
of heaven. Satan spends the rest of eternity trying to destroy God and his
creation.
[iii]
The lesson here as always: If you have to choose between trusting God and
something else, especially a snake, choose God.
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