Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Gen. 3:11  "And he (God) said, Who told you that you were naked?"  Adam didn't even know what 'naked' meant in the minutes before he grabbed some leaves, made an apron and hid.  But he knew now.  And then God said, "Have you eaten of the tree, that I commanded you that you should not eat?"  God already knew the answer to that.  The question was rhetorical.

Adam should have said:  "Yes.  I did it; I ate it."  But in true human form, he blamed someone else.  He blamed Eve.   Gen. 3:12  "And the man said, The woman that you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat."  Actually Adam was blaming God.  Adam came out of the bushes where he was hiding and told God that if God had just left well enough alone, and not created a woman in the first place, then Adam wouldn't have sinned.  So logically, God was to blame.

So God turned to the woman, and said:  Gen. 3:13 "...What is this that you have done?"  That's a very simple question.  She should have answered, "I did what you told us not to do.  I ate the forbidden fruit.  I'm so sorry."  But she didn't.  She blamed the serpent.  What a gal, "It's not really my fault,"  she explained,  "The devil made me do it."  Or in the words of the Bible:  "...The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."

Beguiled.  She just couldn't help herself.  You can almost see her shrugging her shoulders.

And the punishment begins.  God curses the serpent, and instead of being beautiful, he was condemned to eat dust, and crawl on its belly.  He becomes a snake.  (Gen. 3:14)  So the word "serpent" and "snake" are sometimes used interchangeably, but in Genesis, they are two different things.  Many paintings in Art Galleries show Eve being tempted by a snake.  Not so.

But Adam and Eve get the worst curses.   Eve first, then Adam.  





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