So, now
we’re moving into this. Our first stop is that Eve is approached by the
serpent. As said last week, the serpent is clever. This doesn’t adequately
convey the serpent’s abilities. The serpent could have a blindfolded chess
match with Odysseus and win.
We’re not
sure where that cleverness comes from. It’s easy to attribute the serpent as
being someone else in disguise, but as discussed last week, we’re not doing
that. We just don’t have the evidence for it. However, it could just as easily
be a reference to how serpents (snakes) are able to insinuate themselves into
places where they can strike. They are cunning hunters, and very stealthy, so
it could be these attributes that are referenced.
So, there’s
Eve, and the serpent comes up to her with his spiel. And it’s a good one. That
line about becoming like God is perfect. I mean, how do you punch someone below
the belt better than that? The serpent is really, really good at this. Used car
salesman good. P.T. Barnum good.
The serpent
correctly identifies Eve’s weak point: She wants to be like God. There’s
nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s completely logical. Adam and Eve were
made in God’s image, so it’s only natural to want to be like God. This idea
could be a realization of her destiny, too. What other purpose would they have
for existing if not to become like God, especially considering that they were
made in the image of God?
As if
that’s not enough, the serpent hits her with the next curve ball, telling that
she won’t die. Now, this is where it gets sticky. Is this an out-and-out lie?
Is this something he could be caught in as telling an untruth? Shouldn’t Eve
have known better just from this statement alone because it directly
contradicted God? Yes . . . and no. Mostly no.
See, the
line is subtle. The serpent clearly alludes to the idea that Eve will be like
God after eating the fruit. God created the world and the cosmos! God cannot
die! The idea is unthinkable. The logic—as far as it goes—is infallible. God
cannot die. To know Good and Evil is to be like God. To eat the fruit is to
know Good and Evil.
So the
statement about not dying actually reinforces the Serpent’s position: Eve
should eat the fruit.