The Serpent

Reading from Genesis 3 NIV

Well this is basically where all goes wrong.
Only if we didn't screw it up...

But what's happened is the past.

Do you think you would've been able to reject the serpent? To not eat the fruit?
After having a closer look at what happened, I admit I would've fallen for it just as easily.

So after all God created, the perfection.
Yes, everything was perfect. Take a moment to imagine that.
A perfect breeze, healthy green lush trees, a clear stream, or whatever perfect may feel to you.
It would've been completely bliss nonetheless.

Then now in this chapter, the Serpent decides to taint it.
He decides to ruin EVERYTHING.
If only He didn't exist right?!

Just that in itself should make us hate sin so much.

So the passage starts us with the account of the serpent.
I think that in this first part we can learn ALOT about the enemy & how he works.
In turn, we can learn how we can defend ourselves and win the battle against him.

So when he first approaches the woman, he right away asked "Did God really say?"
He questions the rule.
I think this is really powerful. It makes us think right away, did He say those exact words? I think it makes us start to doubt what God said in the first place. In our context today, it's like us questioning "is this really so bad?"

Guess what the serpent's answer was..
"it isn't", or "you will not surely die" in the passage.
He right away counters us, he makes a firm stand against what keeps us right. It must have been quite convincing to the woman, that he seemed so sure of himself. It also was probably what the woman wanted to hear, she wanted permission from someone to eat of the fruit.

Then the serpent continues with his persuasion, now by twisting the truth.
He could have just told her that she would know good & evil, but he didn't. On top of it, he told her she would be like God. Now that certainly isn't true.
The devil will mix lies along with the truth alot of the time to convince us to sin.

So after this ordeal, the serpent wins~

Its says.
"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom"

That 'also' really stands out to me. Maybe it implies that before meeting the serpent, the woman already saw that the fruit was good for food & pleasing to the eye? Maybe she had already kind of considered eating the fruit before, but the risk wasn't worth taking?

But now, the serpent gives her another really good reason, which causes her to fall.

When both the man & women eat of the tree, they become tainted.

I'm sure God would've known right away, but He still decided to look for them & call out to them.

It really shows that God is slow to anger, & that He's a God that gives us chances.

One question that came to mind is "what if there was no response?"
What if the man & woman just kept hiding from God & didn't answer Him?

What do you think would've happened?

I'd like to hear your thoughts.

So now they know God knows.

I would imagine they were like so nervous.

Have you ever done something pretty bad & wasn't found out for a while? You'd become super paranoid to any sign that someone might have found out. You'd be completely nerve-racked. That was probably the man & woman as they were hiding & then being questioned by God.

So when God asked "did you do it", Adam's first reaction was blame-shifting.

He didn't admit it, he didn't want to be deemed as wrong. He was probably afraid.

We're probably like that alot of the time, it's our natural response to our guilt.

Then God turns to Eve.
Adam was probably like "whew" & so relieved God bought it.
But of course, God knew Adam was guilty.

So some messages God spoke to me this time.

He reminded me that Satan will question us, make us doubt Him, & tweak what we believe to make us vulnerable to His temptations. So in turn, we really need a solid foundation in God's word, the truth. Then we cannot be shaken by anything.

How God cursed everyone in the end, even though He didn't accuse Adam of being wrong straight away really reminded me not to take any sins lightly. Alot of the time, there's 'little things' that I do which I know I'm sinning, but it's so small I just let it pass. But here, I'm reminded that it does matter, God knows, & will punish us unless we change.

Lastly, from here, we see how God closed of The Garden from humanity once and for all. From this point, humanity was dead spiritually. It was the end of everything good.
But now that God sent Jesus to die for us, He opened the path for us once again. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, we definitely don't want to miss it.

Godbless~