A Study and look into what took place in the garden, in the land of Eden. Such as:
5. The significance of the Tree of life
1. The serpent in the garden and what he
said; and, Where, or who is satan?
2. The original or the first sins of mankind
3. When did 'death' really enter the world?
4. Did the serpent lie to Eve, or tell her the
truth?
5. The significance of the tree of life.
By Thomas Shaler
One of the main reasons for having this study is because there is such a great need
to explain the truth to people. For, I hear over and over again people butchering up the
torah in the events that occurred in the garden that Yehowah planted in the land of Eden.
I wanted to write a list of commentaries on these chapters of Genesis anyways, but
even more so when I hear people telling lies and falsehood about the facts of the story,
or how they interpret the things that occurred in the garden.
A few things first before we get started. First of all, the book of Genesis was written by a Jewish
man, and most likely a prophet, to his fellow countrymen, brothers, and also to his children. Thus,
what he says therein and how he says it must be taken in its literal wording, because he is not lying
to these people. But, rather he is telling them the stories of what actually took place.
Secondly, I need to give you some background in regards to the situations of that time or what led up to that time. When Adam was formed from the dust of the earth, Eve was not made from his side right away, but only after several hours. I say this because after Yehoshua made Adam from the dust of the ground he brought all the animals of the field and the birds of the air to Adam, to see what he would call them. It was only after that point that Yehoshua caused the man to fall into a deep sleep and so took a rib from his side in order to make a woman from that rib. This was all done on the sixth day. This is because a man can not be 'fruitful and multiply' if there are no means to do so, got it? Another thing to point out is that everyone, the man and the animals, used the exact same language at that time, even up to the tower of Babel. This is how Adam could fulfill the commandment of ruling and governing over all the animals (Gen 1:28). Therefore, when we see an animal, namely a serpent in this case, talking to Eve it should not come as a surprise to you. Another thing to point out is that the commandment of "not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge" was given to Adam before Eve even had come into existence. I mention this because if Yehoshua never mentioned this particular commandment again, it was Adam that relayed this commandment to Eve sometime after she came into existence.
Let us move on to the narrator's words (or the story) in how he quoted the Lord, and how he quoted the serpent's and Eve's conversation. And, let us also see the real reason the serpent got in trouble, and see how Eve sinned before she even reached out her hand to take of the fruit, let alone eat it. Likewise, let us see if the serpent lied or told the truth.
Now, understand that I highlighted the word "surely" here
for a reason. I say this because he does not say, "the day
you eat of it you will die right then and there." No, rather
he says, "the day you eat of it you will surely die." Why
does the Lord say this in this way? Well, the answer for
most people is not so clear up to this point in the Torah,
but the reason for saying this is clear when you read it
through after they transgressed. For this what the Lord
says after they ate of the forbidden fruit, "He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life
and eat, and live forever." Don't you see what this is telling you? It is telling you that man was not already living forever,
rather he was simply living. Thus, Adam was already destined to die and this "tree of life" was the best, but not only
(because of rare occasions as in the case of Enoch and Elijah), means to escape death. Thus, because Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit first versus the tree of life fruit first, He sent cherubs to guard the tree of life so that they had no chance to escape death, thus they "will surely die," as the Lord promised. Therefore, Paul is wrong by saying death came into the world because of Adam and Eve's transgression [CLICK HERE]. The truth of the matter is that it is because of Adam and Eve's transgression death was made assured for all people, for it was already here. Now with all this in mind, let us take a look at the serpent's words in order to see if he lied to Eve, or if he told her the truth, and to see how Eve sinned just prior to taking of the fruit, let alone eating it. Even though the two sins bore different consequences in the 'now' or present time, versus on the day of judgment.
I will put the narrator's words, the Torah on one side and my commentary on the other side, to make things easier.
First off, let us go back to see what the verbatim actual wording of the Lord is, in his commandment to Adam regarding the Tree of Knowledge.
Gen 2:7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the
ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life, and the man became a living being.
2:8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the
east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had
formed.
2:9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out
of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye
and good for food. In the middle of the garden were
the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil.......
2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the
Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are
free to eat from any tree in the garden;
2:17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely
die."
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild
animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman,
"Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the
garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the
trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that
is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it,
or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
5 "For God knows that when 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 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.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
v1 ....wild animals. Notice that the Jewish narrator does not say, "satan," or "satan manifesting as a serpent."
Did God really say... The serpent starts out this way to strike up a conversation with Eve. His motives for this whole conversation define the word, "stratagem," as we see later by what the serpent does not do.
v2-3 Innocent enough, Eve thinks she is correcting the serpent in his knowledge about the foods she is allowed and not allowed to eat. However, in the process of this Eve ms-represents the Lord's commandment and so utters a false version of it. She does this first by saying, we "must not touch it," and then proclaiming that you will "die" right after doing so as well - if you should eat of it.
v4 You will not surely die. The serpent sees that he is succeeding in his conversation and so picks up Eve's ms-representation of the commandment and tells her the truth in order to get closer to his goal. That goal is if he can somehow trick Eve into eating the very fruit she is commanded not to eat. For he sees that she thinks that the moment you eat of the fruit you will die, thus, he actually corrects her with the truth. We see that the serpent's words are the truth because the Lord himself says the exact same words later on in the chapter.
v6 ...the woman saw... desirable for... Here is the very thing that made Eve transgress before even taking of the fruit of the tree, let alone eating it. She lusted over and coveted something that she was forbidden to have and she could not control herself. Thus, she threw her integrity out the door. This also tells you that if she had this lack of integrity in this area, she would also have this problem in other areas. Thus, as we can see, one is not born with integrity as people assume Adam and Eve had. The fact of the matter is that you must be disciplined in it. Thus, this destroys the myth that Adam and Eve were made so perfect that they did not have temptations. The truth of the matter is that the Lord made them in righteousness, but to remain in that state one needs integrity.
This is where the serpent really erred in his so-called "wisdom." Even though he saw he succeeded in deceiving her and for that matter, Adam who was with her. While she was on her way to get some of the fruit, he did not stop her in order to still prevent her from sinning, versus rebuking her further.
...who was with her... amazingly enough, he did not say a single word, for he too could have rebuked both of them.
v7 Proof that the serpent did not lie, but actually told the truth.
Seeing that the narrator said it was an animal that deceived Eve and not the devil, Where is the devil? There is no devil yet! Thus, Adam and Eve and the serpent all sinned before the heavenly host now known as 'satan' fell.
To prove this even more to the hard-headed people out there, if the serpent was truly the devil in this story, then how in the world can the devil present himself before the Lord, in the time of Job, if he is so cursed in Genesis 3 so that the Lord himself says, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals!" I guess the Lord is a liar for calling satan 'livestock." He goes on to curse the serpent by saying, "You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life." Thus, if one is so cursed to crawl on their belly and so eat the dust of the earth, how can he leave the earth to go to heaven in order to present their self before the Lord? This is not satan. Therefore, believe our narrator, he is not going to lie to his fellow countrymen, nor children.
There is one there, however, in this story, that is not mentioned yet in this study, that ends up being the devil, who has the power to enter into the Lord's presence.
Let us look at Ezekiel 28 for a moment. This Chapter is commonly known to be the chapter that depicts the particular heavenly host, now known as satan, before his fall.
12 You were the model of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
ruby, topaz and emerald,
chrysolite, onyx and jasper,
sapphire, turquoise and beryl.
Your settings and mountings were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you.
16 Through your widespread trade
you were filled with violence,
and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
and I expelled you, O guardian cherub,
from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
v13-14 You were in Eden...
...cherub
There is not a single cherub in the garden of Eden story except for one place, and it is when the Lord sent more then one cherub "cherubim" to guard the tree of life. This was done so that Adam and Eve, as well as their future children, could not have the ability to escape death and so live forever. That does not mean eternal life, it simply means they would remain alive up to the judgment. If that were the case they would never die. Or, they would remain alive, at least, up to the day the moshiach would come to reign. I say this in this way because if they were to be evil, at that time the Lord would either kill them or cast them into some prison as he will the devil at that time. Thus, one of the cherubs that guarded the tree of life, apparently, ended up being the devil or satan, not that a 'turncoat' spirit already existed.
That is the conclusion of the matter, thank you for studying with me-
