The Snake and the Trees

The snake was subtle. He didn’t try to advertise the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. There were no blaring headlines or marketing campaigns set in motion to captivate Adam and Eve.

The serpent’s approach was built on crafty and snarky questions and flatteries as we read in Genesis 3.  “He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1).

The devil had faced the same kind of existential crisis. He, too, had thought about the Lord of Creation and had grown curious about his design and position in the scheme of the universe.

Isaiah 14 describes Lucifer as the star of the morning – a bright, beautiful being made for something special in the economy of God. An anointed cherub according to Ezekiel 28, he was positioned near the Throne of Heaven and equipped with talent and knowledge and authority.

It seems that this wasn’t enough for the snake. He sought to be “as the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14), and in his ambition, he fell “as lightning” as Jesus told it in Luke 10:18.

Iniquity bubbled in this cherub’s being. He fomented a sense of self that prompted him to seek an exalted status beyond the bounds of his design. He wanted more. Read what the Lord said of the devil in Ezekiel 28:17:   “Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.”

He thus became a wanderer restlessly pursuing others to join his cause (see Job, chapters 1 and 2). He also went on the attack against the ones God deemed precious enough to be His habitation on earth.

“… God created man in His image … the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 1:27, 2:7).

Dissatisfied and Disaffected

What was it that the snake took issue with? The answer I think can be found in Hebrews 1.

There we see that the creatures of the angelic realm were not made to rule and to reign. Rather, the Lord designed them to be “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14).

Satan perhaps saw himself as far too splendorous to be beholden to ones crafted from the dust of the earth. And yet this was the design of God for him. Dissatisfied, the devil sought to upset the status quo and lusted for the adoration due only to the Lord Himself.

The angel guiding John the Apostle through the visions of Revelation made it most clear that he was unworthy of the worship that John attempted to give to him in bowing down: “… ‘You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’” (Revelation 19:10)

Other Bible accounts reveal angels who accepted and operated according to their assignment. Gabriel and Michael are two of these beings identified for us.

Gabriel was the messenger who brought news to Daniel that the prophet’s prayers were heard in Heaven. The angel saluted this man as one “greatly loved” (see Daniel 2:23). He, later in the Scriptures, is described as he appeared to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, and to Mary, the virgin girl of Nazareth who would bear the Son of God as He came in His incarnation. “And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!’” (Luke 1:28)

Michael fought with Satan over the body of Moses, the letter of Jude tells us. He stood his ground, not flexing his muscles or crafting his own tirade. Instead, this archangel “did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you’” (Jude, verse 9).

Sowing Division

In the Garden, the snake plotted to break the relational bond between Man and his Maker. He appealed to Eve’s sense of self. “Are you sure that you heard God right?” All of the other trees around her and Adam were theirs to enjoy.

This one tree was ruled off limits. Why? Satan proposed a slander and a flat-out lie to explain the reasoning behind the prohibition.

The snake bit Eve with the suggestion that the Lord had put blinders on them. “… God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)

It was as if the devil was saying, “If God was really good, why does He keep these things from you? Think of all that you will be able to see.”

The real lie at the heart of the snake’s speech was this: “Eat … and you will be like God.”

These human beings possessed something that the devil coveted and could never have. Share on X

The fact of the matter was that Adam and Eve were already one with “the Most High” for it was His breath that made them living souls. These human beings possessed something that the devil coveted and could never have. Lucifer wasn’t made for it, and this drove him to the insanity that fueled his rebellion – a movement that came to capture and corrupt the imaginations of other angels.

Adam and Eve were gifted this standing in the order of Creation. They had done nothing to earn their status as habitations of God.

Satan’s insinuations and his play on the lust of the eyes and flesh and the pride of life brought down the defenses of Eve. She took from the Tree, ate, and got Adam to eat too.

Their eyes were opened all right. They felt sensations of discontent and shame about their bodies.

Seeking and Saving

The sound of the Voice of God coming to them in the cool of the day stirred outright fear. They had never before felt discomfort at the Presence of the Lord. Now, however, they had broken trust in the Word that He had spoken to them. Seeds of unbelief sprouted within them. The simple faith they’d operated under was called into question.

So they ran into hiding and stitched together leaves to give them some cover. What a disaster.

And still the Lord loved them, so loved them that He came after them. “Adam, where are you?” God called.

They had entertained the serpent’s questioning. Would they respond to His question? Adam did, with surprising honesty: “I heard Your Voice and I was afraid. …” (Genesis 3:10).

Torment had come and supplanted the honor and awe and intimacy that Adam and Eve had enjoyed with the Lord. It happened fast and it was furious in its destruction.

In the midst of all of this turmoil, however, the Lord defines a declaration of war to the serpent and to Eve. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

This verse is recognized as the original Redemptive promise. One born of woman, the Lord said, would come to endure bruises and wounds (see Isaiah 53). He would claim a share in the flesh and blood of all children. In coming and dying, the Son would crush the head of Satan. Hebrews 2:14 says it best: “Through death He might bring to naught him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.”

The sad, sad story of Genesis 3 holds the germ of hope to come in the joyful and enduring ending shown us in Revelation 20, where the devil is at last cast away to the lake of fire. Share on X

The sad, sad story of Genesis 3 holds the germ of hope to come in the joyful and enduring ending shown us in Revelation 20, where the devil is at last cast away to the lake of fire.

That day of death at the Tree of Knowledge, tragic as it was, would be answered with another day of death at another Tree, the Cross. Jesus, our Last Adam, would do the Father’s will and submit to the just consequences of the law of sin and death. Lifted up, innocent and clean, the Son surrendered to the crush of judgment.

In so doing, all the power of hell was vanquished. Now, anyone who hears Him ask the question “Where are you?” may come and find rest and refuge in Jesus.

On Christ the Solid Rock, let us stand and hide no more.