Christian Living
Overcoming the serpent whisperer- The story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, and their partaking of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and it's part in our separation of man from God may seem to us today as being ancient and irrelevant. But this story was at the time, no more or no less "primitive or ancient" in it's implications to man back then, then it is any more or any less "high tech, or modern" (say WHAAAAT?....stay tuned) in it's implications to man, living right here, right NOW.
The Lord has been revealing to me great and profound truths in regards to this seemingly simple narrative. This seemingly ancient and sometimes seemingly irrelevant narrative actually plays out EVERY SINGLE DAY in ALL of our lives. This fact is quite illuminating. If we merely take a step back from the actual, quite simple narrative and consider from a bigger picture perspective, what exactly it is telling us, both theologically and on a practical, pragmatic, day to day level, then it is life changing. It is not anti-Biblical, and as I will show, it actually profoundly displays the entire Bible's message to us all. It gloriously shows to us that to God, the "That was then, this is now" mentality doesn't mean much, if anything at all, to Him.
Let's start with the narrative. Adam and Eve walked with God. They were in a relationship with Him, in true accordance with God's exact and glorious purpose for what they were created for. They were formed by God and had a known and accepted reason for their walk WITH their Creator in His perfect Creation. All that they had, all that they were, and all that they were to become, came from their walk and communion WITH their Creator in the garden. All that was asked of them by God, was for their own freewill to decide, in each moment, to obey God's Word, or His Law, and to NOT partake in a decision to defy HIS clearly laid down rules.
But to break down the exact narrative from Genesis chapter 3:
-Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?"-
Of course the world that we live in today and the garden of Eden are two totally different seeming worlds. But the way that we were, and still are designed to walk and be in communion with God remains exactly the same. It is much more subtly hidden away from us NOW in this perverted world. But it IS still there. And the serpent is STILL whispering that very question into our ear. The serpent, being as crafty as he is, of course also presents himself to us today, in many different and crafty forms and in many different, insidiously deceptive ways.
But to continue, this deceptive, fake representation of a different kingdom that we all exist in, and walk in today, leads many to believe that all that they have, all that they are, and all that they are to become, comes from their resultant, default walk with the serpent in the now perverted "garden", or what is now called "the world", or what the last book of the Manual calls "Mystery Babylon". Of course, the serpent referred to here, is also known as, and was called later by Jesus, "the prince of this world".
And also, of course, we ALL (That means every single one of us) are still made by our Creator for very specific and beautiful purposes for furthering God's glorious Kingdom ON Earth as it is in Heaven. We were ALL made for this. ( Psalm 139:13-16) It only depends upon how it is that we daily respond to this "serpent whisper". Do we fall for it again today?, or do we reject the whisper? and do we?, as we take our place in the REAL Kingdom, walk with, commune with and respond ONLY to the whispers of our savior?
The text goes on: -"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.'" 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." -
"You will not surely die", the serpent said. And surely, Adam and Eve did NOT physically die. What this "sure death" WAS, was a spiritual one. The cessation of communion of man with God. Many of us, to this day, believe that there is no spiritual death. That when we die, that is the end of us. This is the first lie of the serpent that we STILL believe. But God's Word goes on to show us how exactly we are STILL being duped, and how exactly we can come back into communion with Him in the perfect Kingdom of God, the one that starts right here, right now on Earth.
This second point that the serpent made to the woman who will go on to be named "Eve", has in fact, never stopped making this point to us ALL, ever since that very time when man abrogated his role as having dominion on this Earth and given dominion over to the serpent. And the serpent has used his newly granted dominion to slowly and methodically (for the ones who don't walk with God in the Kingdom of God) build the FAKE, earthly kingdom (God's REAL Kingdom has always existed...when we choose to walk in it...even here on Earth).
This post-fall Earth, under this fake kingdom, daily offers up to us ALL, our own choice. Our implicit choice to say, and our explicit choice to decide that we ARE like God. With this choice, we can think that we can now know good and evil, and we can even decide that we are the arbiters of defining what is good and evil. We no longer need to even live under God's law, for we think we can discern good and evil, sometimes even better than God's Word does. (I've pointed this kind of chosen viewpoint out to many atheists, and how that this kind of view is an exact manifestation of the "partaking from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil") And therefore, we ALL, in essence, can choose to this day, just as the serpent proposed to Eve, that we ARE our own "gods".
-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. -
How exactly WERE their eyes opened? They suddenly saw that they were naked. Suddenly their minds were changed into thinking that they had to cover themselves. Suddenly their minds were convinced that everything that they had, everything that they were and everything that they were to become, didn't solely come from God. They somehow thought they had became wise outside of God's set forth law, and they had to NOW cover their nakedness. The perfect Garden, and the perfect Law that God had provided was no longer adequate to their changed minds. (That is WHY they had to cover themselves with their own loincloths fashioned by their OWN "god like" mindset. Man's very first attempt at self Righteousness and the birth of false religion.)
-And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"-
This is confirmation to this idea of their changed mindset. God asked them "Who told you that you were naked?", or in essence, "Who changed your beliefs so that I am not the source for everything that you have, everything you are, and everything you are to become? You have decided to NOT live within the protection that My Law had to offer, and to NOT have communion with me. This is YOU deciding to NOT commune with ME. This mindset, to this day, is STILL with us. Everyday we are STILL given oppotunity to respond accordingly to that "serpent whisper".
-The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."-
This shows God's willingness to be a Just Judge. He knew the nature of that serpent. But, HE also, fairly new the man and woman's part in this "fall" from Him. He then went on to impart His Godly property of action/consequence (Justice). That property of His Creation that makes EVERYTHING function in both the physical and spiritual realms ...even in science...we call this property, action/reaction, or cause and effect.
-The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." -
There are a few things to consider here. Firstly, as if we needed more confirmation of this, the term "dust" can also, in its Hebrew equivalent word, be defined as ashes. What's the old expression? "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust." This is a clear reference to death and dying. So when the text says "dust you shall eat all the days of your life", God is probably also directly and prophetically addressing that "ravenous beast that goes around seeking whom he can devour" (to eat their death "ashes" or their death "dust" to quench his ravenous appetite, for his whole life.)
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1pe.5.8.ESV
Notice that Peter doesn't say Satan is a literal lion, but that Satan is like a lion. Perhaps he could have just as easily said that Satan is like a snake prowling, or crawling around....but the pathetic snake isn't nearly as scary as a lion. Kind of apropo, because Satan isn't nearly as scary as he would like to present himself... to a person walking in God's Kingdom anyways. The second thing to consider is that much of this text, as much of Gods Glorious Word is, can be taken literally, metaphorically AND prophetically. It is a commonly known hermeneutic tool of interpreting God's Word. That previous verse and this next verse are glorious examples of this:
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Not only is this to be taken in its literal sense, as evidenced by the animosity and battle between literal snakes and man, but also the battle between man and "the serpent and his minions", prophetically and metaphorically. And THEN, MOST GLORIOUSLY, the prophetic declaration of God to the serpent, Satan, that Eve's offspring, Jesus, would once and for all "crush his head".
In case you missed it, or aren't quite paying attention, this is HUGE! This is God laying out His whole plan to put man "right" again in the Kingdom. This declaration thousands of years before the offspring of Eve, named Jesus, came around.. The ONE who came to redeem ALL of mankind To put man back into the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God that Jesus constantly talked about and tried to teach to His disciples exactly HOW this Kingdom actually started right there and right then on Earth. With His prayer even saying "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done. On Earth as it is in Heaven." This is why it has been said that Jesus didn't only come to put us in the Kingdom of God, but to put the Kingdom of God in US. We Christians are only right now beginning to fully grasp all of this. This is probably an area for Christian growth in the church, that is of unprecedented, (sans, perhaps, the American Revolution) and quite exciting proportions.
-To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you." And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."- Genesis 3:14-19 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/gen.3.14-19.ESV
This narrative certainly seems a despairing, depressing, yet accurate description of man's toils throughout history here on Earth. Especially as seen through the eyes of a non believer, or at least a culture or nation state living under the dominion of the serpent. This serpent dominion has effected cultures and nation's throughout history in the forms of the pharoahs, Kingships, feudal monarchies, empires and dictatorships (Communism, fascism, socialism, despotism and even, sadly, vaticanism and now crony capitalism), where the "prince of this world", or the serpent uses his dominion to control his "antichrist" minions to push onto the people of each age, that age old idea that either it's leaders are the REAL gods, or that no real Biblical god even exists. Again in essence, that old garden serpent whisper.
But God's Word tells us that we can be overcomers of this slave system. Bob Dylan really said it best when he sang, "You're gonna have to serve somebody...." We can either be slaves to Christ as God's Word says, or slaves to the serpent whispers.
1 Peter 2:16 (NASB) Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God
Colossians 3:24 (NASB) knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
But we CAN , and throughout history HAVE* overcome those serpent whispers. This is why Jesus said: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NIV https://john.bible/john-16-33
And why, more pertinently, he also talks of the overcomers in his letters to the churches in the Revellation, chapters 2 and 3. ( I will point out in parenthesis the ways that the narrative of these Revellations line up prophetically with the Genesis chapter 3 narrative). The letters to the churches from Jesus are thought by many Biblical scholars to be representations to us on many levels. The differing churches were not only historically descriptive of the then existing churches, but also symbolic and prophetic representation or description of future churches (corporately) as well as symbolic, and prophetic descriptive representation of future, individual church members (each man individually). I include this last letter to the Laodiceans, because it seems the most applicable to the modern, especially American, church, and to every single one of us... believers, or non believers alike, everywhere.
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (a quite descriptive and compelling warning of urgency to ALL half - hearted believers) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; ( a harkening to our rejecting of Him in the garden, as well as a chaste word for our American apathy born from our comfort and wealth) and knowest not that I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich (Calling out how we don't believe in the true riches that do not pass away. The things of eternal, spiritual substance) ; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, (the spotless, Jesus' blood covering that replaces the man made fig leaf, or even God's temporary, symbolic animal blood covering) and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear ( the nakedness brought about by believing the old serpent) ; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. (Being back in Covenant with God and again seeing that everything they have, everything they are and everything that they are to become, comes from God) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh ( there is that word again) will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. (This is the last, and wonderfully Grace filled appeal of Jesus in the entire New Testament, to ALL of His Creation that He dearly loves, before the events of the Revellation takes place. ) Revelation 3:14-21 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/rev.3.14-21.KJV
So, Where does my comment about the advanced high technology fit in when I began about the Adam and Eve narrative? Remember that ancient primitive idea of a serpent whispering into man's ear "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." Here's a good place to start: Google recently bought out this company called "Deep mind" https://techcrunch.com/2014/01/26/google-deepmind
But a serious point that one needs to consider is that what we, the common man, are told about Artificial intelligence, or A.I , and what its intended role is in society, and what the Elite's ideas and plans for A.I REALLY are for us, are two entirely different things. I know, shocking! A.I, like all tools developed by man can be used for good or for evil. It only depends on the intent of whose hands the tool is in. It is much like the great tool of the club, or the match or the knife or the pen or any other explosive tool. This being said, I will point out briefly that A.I is ultimately intended to finish off the serpent's plan to turn ALL of humanity into slaves. This will be accomplished, the serpent thinks, by using A.I and it's "Hive mind" collective of "wisdom and knowledge" of the internet or "cloud", and integrating it directly and "more conveniently" into mankind's brain, consciousness and then ultimately effect his freewill. We can all, who are paying attention, see where these kinds of inroads, or (GUI) interfaces of the serpent whisperer are developing. You know, "Don't you want to live forever and be like God?"
* But we CAN again, and STILL, today overcome. The Kingdom of God starts right HERE, Right NOW. A great example of God's Kingdom building was the American Founding Fathers, and their part in the American Revolution. I had the false impression that I have written extensively on this, but looking at a collection of all my writes, it's seems that I have always been nibbling around the edges of this idea, and this essay must have only kind of been constructed and written in my mind. I guess this leaves me with a new and exciting thing to write about in the future.
To again quote Jesus' last pre tribulation call to us from the Bible:
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
This article has been read 482 times < Previous | Next >
Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.