Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
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The Questions
1) How did the serpent deceive Eve?
2) Who was the serpent?
3) Why did God curse the serpent?
4) How was the curse broken?
Genesis 3:1-4
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman.
Original Intent
1) How did the serpent deceive Eve?
Genesis 3 tells how a serpent enticed Eve and Adam to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It’s easy to look at the text and think, “I know this story”, but there is much more to uncover here! This passage contains a warning to all of us about Satan’s tactics and includes a seed of hope. When the serpent asked Eve, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1) She replied by misquoting God, “But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.'” (Genesis 3:3) God never said not to touch it. (Genesis 2:17) Before Eve was created, God told Adam not to eat it, “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:16-17) Fostered by the slight manipulation of truth, which nurtured doubt in God’s goodness, Eve reached for the fruit and took a bite. Eve listened to Satan’s lies over believing God’s word. Death and evil were abstract ideas before her sin. Everything was new, alive, and holy. Just like a child can’t comprehend death if they haven’t lost a loved one, Eve and Adam didn’t understand separation from God or one another. She let her experiences determine her reality instead of trusting God. The serpent confidently told her a half-truth, “No! You will certainly not die.” (Genesis 3:4) He knew touching the fruit wouldn’t lead to death, but disobeying God’s word by eating the fruit would bring fatal consequences.
2) Who was the serpent?
The serpent was more than a snake in the grass; he was the tempter Satan who deceives the whole world. (Revelation 12:9) Though Satan once lived with God as an angel, he desired to be higher and more powerful than God. As punishment for his prideful arrogance, and his total disregard for the Lord God’s rule and authority, God cast him from Heaven. (Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:13-17) His existence is eternal enmity, or hatred, towards God and His creation. (Genesis 3:15)
3) Why did God curse the serpent?
When God asked Eve, “What have you done?” she replied, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.” (Genesis 3:13) Interestingly, God didn’t ask the serpent, “What have you done?” Instead, after Eve answered God’s question, God cursed the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock…” (Genesis 3:14) Bible theologian, Barnes explains how Satan’s sin was a moral sin because he deceived Adam and Eve. Therefore, he received a moral punishment in the form of a curse. The Hebrew word for curse in this passage (Arar) is more significant than using a curse word. God’s binding curse on Satan is an intentional response to devaluing God’s word and His character by deceiving Adam and Eve. Later, in Genesis 12:3, we see another connection between devaluing people, God’s creation, and God’s righteous curse, “I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Satan also received a physical punishment for leading Adam and Eve into physical temptation. The serpent was devalued, forced to crawl on his belly. Deception transformed his relationship with people from congeniality to conflict and enmity. Sadly, people also received physical punishment for their transgressions. Adam’s work became difficult (verses 17-19), Eve’s labor would be painful (verse 16), and their relationship changed so that Eve’s desire was intent on Adam and Adam would rule over Eve. (verse 16)
4) How was the curse broken?
God cursed the serpent for his deception, but there was also a promise of judgment for the serpent through the offspring of the woman. (Genesis 3:14-15) The literal translation of Genesis 3:15 reads, “between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head and you will strike his heel.” In the original language, “her seed” is singular and does not refer to all her offspring; it is one person, who is Christ. (Galatians 3:16) Though the prospect of having one’s heel attacked by a serpent isn’t pleasant, attacking the head of the serpent is a death blow preventing the serpent from ever hurting another person. Romans 16:30 encourages believers by pronouncing, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Jesus’ purpose was to destroy the works of the devil, breaking the curse between Satan and mankind once and for all. (1 John 3:8) Jesus crushed Satan’s head by dying for us and subsequently conquering Death forever by rising from the dead. All who trust in Him, recognizing He alone was able to pay the debt of death we owed because of our sin, will be freed from Satan’s curse. Those who believe, taking on Jesus’ offer of life for themselves, will live for eternity at peace with Him. No more death and no more curse! (Revelation 21:4)
Everyday Application
1) How did the serpent deceive Eve?
When the serpent tempted Eve, she could have halted his lies by leaning on the full truth of God’s Word. She could have taken Satan’s statement about death straight to God as He came to walk in the Garden in the cool of the evening. (Genesis 3:8) As Christians, we can avoid deception by asking God to teach us and lead us through the Holy Spirit. (John 14:26) We can also read the Bible and learn God’s word for ourselves. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Satan will tempt us to doubt God’s word with possessions, power, success, and necessities like food. “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world.” (1 John 2:16) We need to stand guard against Satan’s scheming tactics (2 Corinthians 2:11); even when we are in a close relationship with God, we can be enticed by Satan and our own curiosity to disobey God when something forbidden looks delightful and desirable. (Genesis 3:6) No one is immune from Satan’s temptations. After fasting for 40 days in the wilderness, Satan tempted Jesus. (Matthew 4:1-11) Satan used God’s own words against Jesus by quoting Psalm 91:11-12, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Where Eve had failed, Jesus responded to Satan by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” Jesus modeled how we can stop Satan’s attacks by quoting Scripture. Staying in communion with God, knowing His word, seeking His heart, and bringing our questions to the Holy Spirit for wisdom and understanding will help us resist temptation.
2) Who was the serpent?
We likely don’t give much thought to Satan or his schemes today, but his tactics are just as real for us as they were for Eve and Adam. Satan is the father of lies, his nature is to lie, and his primary strategy is deception and manipulation of truth. (John 8:44) He devalues God’s Word, enticing people to question Him and disobey Him. Satan desires every created being to doubt God’s goodness, His love, and His plan. In light of this reality, we should re-assess what we believe ensuring we are clinging to truth from Scripture and leaving no room for lies from the enemy.
3) Why did God curse the serpent?
We can all attest that deceit leads to damage and conflict in relationships. It often has direct, and indirect, ripple effects resulting in repercussions for generations. The serpent’s deception led to enmity, which is personal hostility, in his relationship with all humanity. Enmity refers to hatred and enemies. The Cambridge Bible explains that enmity means a blood feud. Genesis 3:15 reads, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.” The serpent treated Adam and Eve with contempt by lying to them. He treated God with contempt by disparaging God’s command as a means to keeping Adam and Eve from something better. He enticed them to show contempt for God’s word through disobedience. His deception destroyed the relationship between the serpent and mankind and damaged their relationship with God and with each other. When we show contempt for God by disobeying his commands, or for people by lying, stealing, or being unfaithful, we have created a biblical curse in our relationships that will lead to damage and long-term conflict.
4) How was the curse broken?
Jesus came to restore humanity’s relationship with God and with other people. Eve and Adam still lived under the consequences resulting from disobeying God even though they were tricked by Satan’s deception. Each one of us is responsible for our own choices, there is no room for “the devil made me do it” mentality. (James 1:13-16) For Eve and Adam, communion with God was damaged as was their relationship with each other. Through Christ’s sacrifice which paid the debt we owe because of sin, a pathway was created for our relationships to be renewed and restored. In Jesus, we have communion with God and each other. He is our peace. (Ephesian 2:14) In Christ, we can have healthy relationships between men and women and all people regardless of our differences. “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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