“Did God Really Say That?”

Meditation on Genesis 3:1-7

March 4, 2015

     Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts of the field which the LORD God had made. He said to the woman: 'Did God really say: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?' The woman replied to the serpent: 'We may eat of the fruit of the other trees of the garden; 3 It is only about fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said: ‘You shall not eat of it nor touch it, lest you die.' 4 And the serpent said to the woman: 'You are not going to die; 5 for God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' 6 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 desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they perceived that they were naked. Then, they sewed together fig-leaves and made themselves loincloths.

***

      If I were reading Genesis for the very first time tonight, you know what I would probably say when I got to this passage? Why is this woman talking to a snake??  She has a loving husband and her loving God. She has all of Creation to enjoy. And she’s talking to a snake. If I were in the Garden, I would not be alone with a snake very long. I would be running away from it, screaming, “Help! Snake!!”

       And where’s Adam while all this is happening? Where’s God? Why is the woman separated from them? Did she walk away from them? Why on earth would she listen to a snake?! It seems to me that the Lord could have done better with his instructions when he placed the man and the woman in the Garden to live. He only told them about not eating the fruit from the one tree. Just think how the story might have been different if God had said, “Oh, and another thing. Don’t talk to the snake! Don’t even make eye contact. If you see him coming, go the other way.”

        The snake is smart. The NRSV uses the word “crafty.” “He was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord had made.” And no, he wasn’t really a snake like we know them today. This serpent had legs. Are you wondering if it was the devil? No, though we might like the story better if it were the devil. We like to blame him for tempting us to sin, rather than take responsibility for our actions. You know, “the devil made me do it.” But, no, this isn’t the devil; this is just a wild beast in the Garden who, for some reason, wants to stir up trouble between human beings and God. Why? Is he jealous?

      Humans have a special relationship with their Creator, from the beginning. In Genesis 1, God creates man and woman in his image. And he blesses them! No other creature receives such a blessing. Then, God gives His Creation to His beloved human to take care of it for Him. In Gen. 1:28, God told the man to “subdue” the Creation and “have dominion over” all of the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, every living thing that moves upon the earth.

     We can only guess at the serpent’s motives and feelings. One thing is clear. He isn’t happy with the way things are. He isn’t content. He wants to make trouble between God and human beings. So he asks the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’” Notice that he doesn’t ask, “Did God tell you not to eat from one tree in the garden?” He says “any tree in the garden,” which, of course God didn’t say.

      This stirs the woman to answer--because the serpent got it wrong. But he did this intentionally. He is crafty. He chooses his words carefully to lure the woman into his trap. “No,” she corrects him. “We can eat the fruit from all the trees in the garden--except for the one tree in the middle.” She adds that they can’t even touch the fruit on that tree --or they will die. Now, did God really say that? No. She got it wrong, too. But then, she hadn’t been created, yet, when God told the man not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What God actually said was, “For in the day that you eat of it, you shall die.” Then the serpent tells the woman, essentially, that God had lied to them. “You will not die,” he says, “for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The conversation ends there. The woman doesn’t answer the snake, but you know she’s thinking about what he said because of what happens next.    

       Which brings us back to my first question. Why was she talking to the snake at all? Why does she choose to listen to him? Something must have already been wrong inside of her. Instead of telling the Lord about the conversation she had with the snake and asking Him, “Is this true?” or “Why did the serpent say these things to me?” she chose to trust the serpent and distrust the Lord. How amazing is that?! And yet, you think what a human thing to do! She’s living in God’s paradise with her perfect mate, has all the food she could want, never has to work a day in her life. She has no trouble. No pain, and she’s not content. She wants something more.

     Friends, we are still like that! God has provided for all our needs--and we are truly blessed. He is with us in all of our suffering. He uses all things for good in our life. Yet, we are not content-- not under all circumstances, as the apostle Paul urges us to be. When things are going well, and when they aren’t. When life is truly a struggle. For all of us have struggles in our lives.

     The good news is that we have what we need to overcome temptation. We have God’s Word. We have His Spirit to reveal God’s will and empower us to obey. And we have our church and the entire Body of Christ to teach and encourage us and hold us accountable to walk in His loving, peaceful ways.

      But sometimes, we will still choose to do the wrong thing, because that’s what we do. To rebel is human. We are still in desperate need of God’s mercy and grace every day! Though we are being transformed into new creatures in Christ, God’s not done with us, yet. We still struggle with sin and temptation in this fallen world.  It’s always about what we want. What gives us pleasure. And we don’t want anyone to tell us what we can and cannot have or can and cannot do. Not even God! We want to be the god of own lives, just like the woman in the garden!

     She can’t take her eyes off the fruit she isn’t allowed to eat. The one thing she cannot have is what she wants. She can almost taste how delicious she imagines the fruit to be. But it isn’t just about eating; it’s about power, wanting to be better and smarter than she is. Verse 6 says, “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,” so she took the fruit, ate some, and gave some to her husband. Did he know his wife was talking with the serpent? We don’t know. Why didn’t he stop her from taking the fruit? Why did he also eat the fruit, when God had told him not to? Perhaps it was enough to watch his wife enjoying the fruit in front of him. He wanted to experience the same pleasure.  Perhaps the man, too, didn’t trust that when God had said “no,” to them, it was for their own good.

      And, “then their eyes were opened.” Understanding dawned. They knew good and evil, because they had done what was evil in His sight. They had disobeyed the Lord. “They knew they were naked” and attempted to cover themselves, to hide their guilt from God, as if anyone can do that! What a sharp contrast this is to the end of Genesis 2, when God first created the man and then the woman, and they were both naked “and not ashamed.”

        One sin, one act of rebellion, destroys their intimate relationship with the Lord. It was the beginning of a whole new way of life. Now they would have to work hard and struggle to survive. They would have suffering and pain. It was the beginning of their mortality; they would now not live forever in the beautiful Garden with the Lord; they would taste death. It was just like God had said.

 

Let us pray.

Loving God, you created us in your image and blessed us with all of Creation. You longed to have a loving relationship with us, and we were ungrateful and selfish. We rejected you. We chose sin and death over paradise. But you knew we do that, Lord. And you mercifully already had a plan to restore to wholeness what was broken that day in the Garden, when the woman and the man pursued their own desires rather than obey your commands. Thank you for sacrificing Jesus, your only Son, to pay the penalty we could not pay for all our sins--the sins of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Help us to listen to only your voice. Give us wisdom to see evil for what it is and to always choose what is good. Forgive us when have chosen, still, in our lives, to listen to other voices, rather than only yours, and have sought to please ourselves or other human beings, rather than seeking to please only you. Forgive us for thinking that our sin doesn’t matter and for taking your salvation for granted. Humble and convict us, Lord, when we are straying from the right path. Strengthen us walk only in your will, striving to obey and never questioning what we might not understand. Thank you for the promise of your everlasting paradise, life in your heavenly garden, that awaits all who believe on Your Son, our Savior, Redeemer and Lord. Help us to trust in that promise, living in faith, hope, joy and contentment until that day. In Him we pray. Amen.