Satan, The Fall, and the Origin of Evil: Part 1
Genesis 3:1-2a ESV
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman (Eve), "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?"
1st The Original Design of God
Genesis 2:8-10 ESV
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.
1. God lived in Eden
2. The Divine Council also lived in Eden
Psalms 82:1 ESV
God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment
Ezekiel 28:13a, 14b
You were in Eden, the garden of God... I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
God had humanity with Him in Eden
Genesis 1:27-28 ESV
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue (overcome) it…
2nd The Original Enemy of God
Genesis 3:1-2a ESV
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman (Eve), "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?"
Revelation 12:9 ESV
And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Nacash
- Snake
- A deceiver or one who has diving knowledge
- Brazen, bronze, brass, and shiny
Ezekiel 28:12b-13 ESV
"You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared.
Isaiah 14:12a ESV
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!"
3rd The Origin of Evil
Genesis 3:1b ESV
He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?"
Genesis 2:16-17 ESV
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
1 John 1:5 ESV
God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
James 1:13 ESV
God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
Psalms 5:4 NASB
For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You.
The tree was a recognition of a few things:
- God was in authority
- To worship and serve God
- That God is good
- That it was a choice to believe, serve, and love God
~ C. S Lewis (The Problem of Pain)
"We can, perhaps, conceive of a world in which God corrected the results of this abuse of free will by His creatures at every moment: so that a wooden beam became soft as grass when it was used as a weapon, and the air refused to obey me if I attempted to set up in it the sound-waves that carry lies or insults. But such a world would be one in which wrong actions were impossible, and in which, therefore, freedom of the will would be void”
