Does God decide what is Right or Wrong, or should we?

We now begin moving into the next part of the story, this one tied into this second account using identical sounding Hebrew words, “arum.” Used to connect nude and shrewd, respectively. Since we are being introduced to the snake, a character with a dramatic appearance and disappearance, I think it is appropriate to properly introduce the snake without an overemphasis which would overplay its role. As many scholars have noticed and commented about, the creation account being “stolen” from Near Eastern, and/or Mesopotamian, mythology is understood best when approached by the scholars who accept this fact, but remain honest to the accounts and their particular examination. Then they encroach upon the subtle differences and dramatic alterations they make to the overall story's emphasis and intention. The snake is just such a character, in Near Eastern mythology [such as Gilgamesh], who represents death and immortality. This should be taken into account, as the story is in fact altered with the snake promising immortality while instead delivering death. Tied into this is the sexual overtones of the snake, which should not be overemphasized nor disregarded – as the age of accountability does come into play with the onset of puberty and thus sexuality (which is the prescription God establishes for the curse of death), creating a beautiful poetic bounce with the shameless nudity of humankind and the shrewd nature of the snake.

“Now the two of them... were nude (“arum”)...” This particular Hebrew word is the passive participle of root meaning shrewd (“arum”) - its short definition is man, and is used to mean prudent and sensible. The snake comes on to the scene introduced as “more shrewd (“arum”) than all the living-things of the field that YHWH, God, had made.” Interestingly, this is the primitive root and is active instead of passive, used to mean “become shrewd” and “make shrewd” with the connotation of being very cunning and offering crafty counsel. This active definition pours right into the very next line: “It said to the woman...” Here we witness active cunning, sensible, and crafty counsel aimed at making its receiver become actively sensible (shrewd) from their current state of passive sensibility (shrewdness).

“It said...

Even though God said: You are not to eat from any of the trees in the garden...!”

The woman said to the snake:

From the fruit of the (other) trees n the garden we may eat,

but from the tree that is in the midst of the garden,

God has said:

You are not to eat from it and you are not to touch it,

lest you die.”

Thus the crafty counsel begins, and we are given a look into the happenings leading up to a transgression against God's command. The first question, the first counsel, is “what do you know about God's command for your life?” And the woman's answer reveals the first mistake in avoiding a transgression against God's command. She doesn't know what God's command is. She mistakes the Tree of Life (a tree permitted by God) with the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (a tree forbidden by God). She mistakes what is permitted, with what is forbidden. The second mistake, is adding to God's command; adding a mandate of mankind to the command of God. Jesus found this extremely distressing during his mission, constantly attacking the Pharisees tradition constantly usurping the commands of God.

“The snake said to the woman:

Die, you will not die!

Rather, God knows

that on the day that you eat from it, your eyes will be opened

and you will become like gods, knowing good and evil.”

After establishing what the woman understood about God's command, the snake cunningly counsels her concerning something she doesn't even understand – allowing for many truths to now be construed deceptively. Die? You will not die responds the snake, not clarifying whether he is responding to her understanding of the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden, or the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil which they are within eye sight of. Rather, the snake says, God knows... - pointing to God as the authority of this command the snake is about to give - …on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will become like gods, knowing good and evil. Notice here, how the snake mixes his counsel with the command of God, “their eyes will be opened” - mankind will stop being passive participants of shrewd sensibility and become shrewd active participants in crafty counsel through this new knowledge akin to the gods. One thing which should be noticed in the conversation, is the snake has not bluntly lied about anything, but used the truth to deceive the woman through her lacking knowledge of God's command.

This time, there is no response by the woman, but contemplation.

“The woman saw

that the tree was good for eating

and that it was a delight to the eyes,

and the tree was desirable to contemplate.

She took from its fruit and ate

and gave also to her husband beside her,

and he ate.

The eyes of the two of them were opened

and they knew then

that they were nude.”

Here comes the effect of twisted truth, God's commands misconstrued by His creation. Notice the man is beside the woman during this entire conversation – implying he did not remember God's command either. Thus, the deception begins... the tree is good for eating, just as God said when He finished His creating; it was a delight to the eyes, just as God said; the tree was desirable to contemplate, and now the woman's desire – her first acknowledgment of self – kicks in. Once desire mixed into the truths she observed, and this is why truth is not the only arbiter of God's commands and morality and why reason alone cannot bring us to a proper understanding of such morality, she accepts the deceitful truth of the snake and commits the only act forbidden to her by God. The immediate outcome was exactly as the snake promised – their eyes were opened and they knew then the knowledge of good and evil, they became active participants in the snakes counsel and their passive created sensible nature (aligned with God's command) was now an active participant in what was considered sensible by them – now aligned in defiance to God's command.

“They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”

This is really important to remember; humankind instantly recognized they were somehow wrong and had disobeyed the command of God. Not only did they recognize this, they attempted to rectify the situation – though they didn't know how. The upcoming conclusion is now close at hand.

“...they heard the sound of YHWH, God, (who was) walking about in the garden at the breezy time of day.

And the human and his wife hid themselves from the face of YHWH, God...

...God, called to the human...
“Where are you?

He [the man] said:
...I was afraid, because I am nude, and so I hid myself.
He [God] said:
Who told you that you are nude?
From the tree about which I commanded you not to eat, have you eaten?”

The scene is set, dramatically, the time is evening (“breezy-time”) and thus the sun is setting and the darkness is at hand as God walks about in the garden. Humankind is hiding from the face (“presence”) of God, a theme much returned to throughout the scriptures; people seeking God's face or hiding from it, God revealing it to them, or hiding it from them. God calls out to the human asking why he is hiding from His presence. Instead of confessing, the man merely exhibits his new nature: fear, nudity as an active disturbance in God's created nature for humankind (because man is not really nude but covered by loincloths, pointing to a deeper meaning), and the belief he can no longer be in God's presence. God responds, and how do you know this, hmm? From that tree I forbid, you ate, didn't you? God presses the man to confess, to acknowledge he wronged himself.

“The human said:

The woman whom you gave to be beside me...

...God, said to the woman:

What is this you have done?
The woman said:

The snake enticed me...”

The man immediately denies wronging himself, placing the blame on God for providing him with such a helper as the woman. God turns to the woman, looking for her to accept wronging herself. She points to God again, saying the snake enticed her by abusing her desire. God then turns to the snake, but notice he doesn't ask for any acknowledgment from the snake. God now issues justice and punishment.

“...God, said to the snake:

Because you have done this,

damned be you...

...dust shall you eat, all the days of your life.

I put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed (“offspring”) and her seed (“offspring”):

they will bruise you on the head, you will bruise them in the heel.

To the woman he said:

I will multiply, multiply your pain (“itzavon”) [from] your pregnancy,

with pains (“itzavon”) you shall bear children.

Toward your husband will be your lust [desire], yet he will rule over you.

To Adam he said:

Because you have hearkened to the voice of your wife

and eaten from... which I commanded you... 'You are not to eat from it!'

Damned be the soil on your account,

with painstaking (“itzavon”) labor shall you eat from it, all the days of your life...

By the sweat of your brow shall you eat...

For you are dust, and to dust shall you return.

The human called his wife's name: Havva / Life-giver!

For she became the mother of all the living.

...God, made Adam and his wife coats of skins and clothed them.

...God, said:
…the human has become like one of us, in knowing good and evil.

So now, lest he send forth his hand

and take also from the Tree of Life

and eat

and live throughout the ages...!

...He (God) drove the human out...”

Two issues of damnation are given, affecting the snake and the man all the days of their life. The snake shall eat dust, and the soil will bear food to eat only through painful labor. The consequence of death is the focus of God's judgment in these statements, and we find an immediate prescription to remedy it. To the woman, God issues the task of keeping humankind alive through bearing children, she “became the mother of all the living.” Both the man and the woman receive equal punishments of pain, making pain a part of life – bearing children will cause pain, and eating to maintain life will cause pain. The snake and humankind will now reside in constant enmity, bruising each other, but with the promise mankind will triumph in the end through future offspring. Then comes the closing of the curse, the consequence of disobedience – death. If ever you wondered why Jesus had to die on the cross to be the first-born of the resurrection, it is because of this curse - “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” And it is precisely this return to dust, this death, which the snake will eat, all the days of its life.

Once punishment is pronounced for their wrongdoing, God blesses humankind by clothing them. Here ends the second account. These two aspects of God, justice/punishment and love/blessing are not exclusive of each other and operate together throughout the scriptures. Notice here, the snake was telling the truth, though deceptively, and God acknowledges this by confirming the human has become like Him in knowing good and evil. It is for this reason, the active engagement in deciding what is right instead of following God's command concerning what is right, and the prescription against death through procreation, that humankind must be removed from the garden which contains the Tree of Life.

In the name of the God of us all, I beg you to forgive me if anything I have said in all these blogs is wrong. Please forgive me if I have made any mistakes. I am only telling you what came to my heart. I am only telling you what I understand in my innermost heart. I humbly ask the great, wise, learned ones to do this. If there is any fault in what I have said, please forgive me for the sake of God. May all the peace, the beneficence, and the blessings of God be upon you. Amen.