First of all the devil sowed doubt about the Word of God, and so Eve let go of that Word slightly. The devil then pressed on further. ‘It is absolutely not true that you will die, on the contrary! For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil just like Him.’ By that, the devil was implying to Eve that: “God doesn’t want you to be like Him. He doesn’t have your happiness in view at all. He is a God who doesn’t like anyone else to have what He has, a God who doesn’t permit anything, who forbids lots of things—just in order to upset you! God isn’t for you, He’s against you!1
And added to that there was that fruit that looked so attractive to Eve. It seemed very alluring and the devil’s suggestions seemed very logical. Besides, wasn’t the ‘nachash’ who spoke with her, the celestial, shining, intelligent and ‘glittering’ one? She took the fruit and ate it. Adam was not deceived, but Eve fell for the trap, Paul says, “And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”2 She gave to Adam and he ate, and then ‘man’ as a whole – since God created ’man’ (singular) as ‘male and female’3 apparently meaning that man + woman = one complete human being, falls into sin. In the Dutch translation the word ‘opposite’ is mentioned, referring to the woman as equal, but opposite and thus also different and a true help. The Amplified Bible Translation kept this same notion. Genesis 2:18 “Now the Lord God said, “It is not good (beneficial) for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [one who balances him—a counterpart who is] suitable and complementary for him.” Man and woman are different, created differently but complementing and completing one another as it were.
There is a beautiful story in Judaism. Question: why did God not create Eve from Adam’s feet? Answer: in order that he would not think that he could trample her under his feet, or use her as a doormat, a slave. Question: but why did God not create her from Adam’s head? Answer: in order that she would not think that she has him under her control. That she is his head. Question: but why did God create her from his side (‘rib’ means ‘side’)? Answer: in order that she would be always close to his heart!
Adam carries the responsibility for their relationship, for it was not through Eve – even though she took and ate the fruit first – but through Adam that ‘sin’ came into the world.3 That is apparently why no male seed is allowed to be used for the birth of the Redeemer, but the ‘seed of the woman’ is permitted to give Him His human flesh. Not Joseph – His adoptive father – was the father of Jesus, but God was His Father through a creative act by the Holy Spirit.
The fall of ‘man’ is the result of this clever temptation by the ‘nachash’. ‘Man’ was struck at his weakest point—his Achilles heel! The seed of the serpent will always try to ‘bite’, to ‘snap’ at the heel of the woman’s offspring. God tells the ‘nachash’: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”4 The whole process of temptation by the devil always starts with casting doubt on the Word of God, and picking at its trustworthiness.
‘Can a serpent really speak?’ was a theological question that even led to a division between churches in the Netherlands. But the question is not a valid one. It is not a real problem, when one realizes that the ‘serpent’ was a ‘nachash’ and the double meaning in Hebrew is taken into account. Can Balaam’s ass really speak? Did God really create the world in six days? Can an axe-head really float? Could Jesus really walk on water? Where did Cain get his wife from? Was the tomb really empty? Such questions are innumerable. And the ‘Ten Commandments’: they are only in your way—this is what the devil tries to convince us. They are blocking you! They rob you of your freedom! You should remove them from your schools and your government buildings and your homes, some people cry out and try to use all their political power to make that happen. These Commandments are against you, the devil tries to convince us. And if we let go of the Word of God, our lifebuoy, we shall ultimately die, led by our own thoughts about right and wrong, nourished by the whispering of Satan, who is in a process to lead the whole world astray. Jesus resisted these temptations (Matthew 4:1-11) but fallen man continues to fall for the demonic traps. That will shortly prove to be the case when the ‘beasts’ come into their own: the whole world will follow them.5
Satan is systematically dripping poison into the world, only small drops at the time. But you will die from a few milligrams of arsenic in a litre of completely good and healthy milk. He is cast down to earth with his angels when the seventh trumpet sounds. But the Kingship of Christ has been proclaimed!6
• Rational Higher Bible criticism, taught at theological faculties, undermines the authority of Scripture. Future preachers often lose their faith. And if they end up in the church at all, they often undermine the faith of their flock. Their sermons become empty speeches and the result of that will be empty pews in empty churches. After a few centuries of systematic undermining the Word of God in Europe through Higher Bible Criticism, Christianity is rapidly fading away in Europe. We have entered into the post-Christian era in Europe which – once upon a time – was the cradle of missionary activities bringing the Gospel all over the world.
Bible References:
1.Genesis 3:4–5 2.1 Timothy 2:14 3.Romans 5:12–14 4.Genesis 3:15 5.Revelation 13;3 6.Revelation 11:15
