"The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. <...> But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." (Genesis 3:1-5)
As for the translation of the scriptural text - we must know that the word "shrewdest" means just "the cleverest", or, in other variants, the most crafty. As later Jesus used to say: be as shrewd as snakes! (Matthew 10:16)
The shrewd snake saw that God was just cheating on Adam and Eve with the threat of a death penalty. Could He have made the man and woman just to kill them right away? And the serpent also saw that the nice couple was naive and rather dead above the ears - so one should open their eyes to the truth!
There was an urgent need of teaching them to discern Good from Evil.
Adam and Eve cultivated and guarded the Garden of Eden. Thus they did good. And Evil was that they didn't get any reward from the Lord. And the pitiful Serpent just wanted to give them a hint that they have been exploited cruelly. I'm sure that many of us would do the same in the Serpent's shoes.
Preachers like to tell us the tale that Eve was tempted not by a common serpent but by Devil or Satan himself, disguised in a serpent skin. But it's a lie, an outrageous slander both on Satan and the Serpent!
There is not a single word in the Bible that it was Devil who tempted Eve. The biblical Satan never took the form of a snake. Only once he had a fight with Archangel Michael in the dragon's image (Satan, not Michael) - but the serpent and the dragon are not even relatives...
Further in the Scripture we can find the fact that Moses was told to make an image of a serpent and set it on his flagstick. God Himself ordered him to do so when in the wilderness. Dare you think that God's chosen people went fighting with a portrait of Satan on their flag?..
It may seem rather blasphemous but the author thinks it necessary to reveal a very embarassing fact to you. The biblical Satan, Son of God (Job 1:6), turns out never to transgress against His Father's will. In most episodes He is just an assistant, an executor of God's orders. When there was an urgent need of tempting somebody, Satan was always at hand, ready to carry out any assignment. It was so with the poor Job - and also with Jesus (Matthew 4:1) and other less-known biblical characters. When God needed to cast an evil spirit upon somebody - King Saul, for instance - God sent Satan to him. And thus He acted repeatedly, obeying His Father as a perfect model boy. Further we'll have more than one chance to get totally convinced in it.
That's the biblical truth. In the higher spheres the problem of fathers and children did not exist.
"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it". (Genesis 3:6)
The curiosity of a woman sometimes gives its fruits. In our case it was the fruit of knowledge. But did Eve really commit a dreadful sin when she took it? Sure she did, for it was a transgression against God, the Master.
And now think of how the history of mankind would develop if she were a good and obedient girl. People would be unable to see good things from bad ones. Nobody would be ashamed of being naked - just like today's nudists. And the boy would never shout: look, the king is naked! Even the Lord God could afford revealing Himself to His slaves dressed like a newborn. And nobody would be shocked.
Life would be simple, clear and natural as cowshit.
Nobody would ask foolish questions about the essence of being. Nobody would doubt anything. Nobody would try to improve himself, his environment or the whole world. Knowledge would stay beyond our reach, and our consciousness would be limited by the enormous faith in God.
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” He replied, "I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked." "Who told you that you were naked?" the LORD God asked. "Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?" The man replied, "It was the woman You gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it." (Genesis 3:10-12)
Adam acted chicken, and hid under his wife's skirt. He was no real gentleman, this Adam. He was just an obedient servant, a slave of God's. The fruit of knowledge didn't cause instant effect, so the notions of good and evil were still undigested by the first Homo Sapiens brain.
Though many biblical descendants of Adam did no better in such sisuations. The faithful Forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob also used hide behind their wives' backs. Further on we shall make a review of their great deeds.
"Then the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. 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. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." (Genesis 3:14-15)
Biblical God Yehovah...
Now, I believe that my holy duty is to remark that we don't speak in this book of the well-known and widely worshipped Good God, Mercyful Lord of the Universe. Because I'm not sure in His existance. So I just refrain from saying anything - good or bad - of Him at all.
I am writing about the Yehovah of the Bible, of whose actions the Old Testament accurately informs us. These actions can be and must be analysed from the standpoint of our modern morality. And I'm ready to assume that His image in the Bible was altered or distorted - by chance or on purpose.
I can also suppose that the authors of the biblical compilation have created God in their own image and likeness. But I haven't the neck to claim it...
...Now, that biblical God of the Old Testament found incredible delight in findinf any reasons to punish somebody - or at least, to curse. There are heavy loads of plagues and curses in His bag of tricks. I counted up to 200, and they are all very divert, elaborate, even refined.You may find them later on, in the chapter called "Biblical ridicules".
But only if you have nerves of steel and a sound stomach.
And now we shall dwell on some curses which God bestowed on the Serpent and on Eve.
The Serpent was punished severely. All his four legs fell off at once. And he never learnt to go on his belly well. But he was able to crawl instead - and so he does.
First days the poor snake had to eat dust - but the dust was insipid and too dry. So he decided to varify his daily meals without God's notice - and lived on small beasts and eggs. So to speak, the slippery one found his way out of the trap again.
"To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." (Genesis 3:16)
Right on the Exile from Heaven, Eve started to bear children painfully and violently. And she gave birth to a considerable number of people during the 9 hundred years of her life.
And it was very severe to give Eve the desire for her husband. The chickenhead Adam didn't deserve it. No matter how she tried to resist - the curse of God was stronger. And it was so strong that sometimes she even had the desire for Lord Himself.
But she made no great trouble of the news that Adam was going to rule over her. "Let him rule - Eve thought - but it's me who will always have the last word".
So it is up till today.
I'm sorry to admit it - but not only peple but all the living beings were punished for the sin of the Serpent and Eve. A cow picked up a bit of Eve's apple - and she has to give birth to her calves in pain. And I have all the ground to believe that other animals also don't enjoy this process very much.
In the other bit a worm found home - and since then all worms have to go on their bellies.
And also some sinful caterpillars, snails and even legless lizards.
This is what have become of curious Eve with her passion for treats and the crafty serpent.
"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 3:17-19)
For a trifle sin of Adam God cursed all the land unreasonably. Then it started producing weed - and stopped producing ready-made corn.
All mankind is still paying the penalty for the tiny fault of one senseless man. It was the first time mass faut was spoken of.
So people earn their bread in the sweat of their face, working hard every day. And for God's servants it's even harder, they are sweating all over. Why did God punish them so?..
"And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them". (Genesis 3:21)
To make garments of skins, God would have to kill a freshmade animal, skin it, manifacture the skin and learn the taylor's craft without a proper tutor. Isn't this too impossible a task for our Lord?