The serpent in Eden: lessons from the Fall

The disobedience of Adam and Eve - that which we call the Fall - is an event described in simple words. Yet it is something with cosmic and eternal consequences. Following the description in Genesis 2 and 3 a few more comments, not intended as Bible explanations but more as some "loose thoughts" following.

Where was Adam when things went wrong?

One of the things that stands out and can be questioned is the role of Adam. For it is quite extraordinary that he keeps completely silent and says nothing. Well, maybe he wasn't there, that could be. But it is also not said that he does join in at some point. I maintain that he has been there from the beginning. And then it's odd that he didn't intervene. At the very least, he could have stopped Eve from eating the forbidden fruit.

I have no idea what went on in his mind and why he remained silent. While he must have known that the Lord God had forbidden precisely this.
Therefore, I submit a question anyway. Because how difficult is it to tell someone you love and have a relationship with that he or she is doing something wrong? That he or she is doing or threatening to do something that goes against God's Word? It doesn't always have to be a partner or family member; it can also be your brother or sister in the faith. It's easy to feel that by correcting or intervening you are putting your relationship at risk. And that's a risk we'd rather not run. So we let it go.

Something else to consider is whether Adam did not notice anything about the serpent. The Bible says nothing about it and yet I think it is not unimportant to consider it. When God had created all the animals He brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. Thus Adam examined each animal to see what it was and gave it a name (Genesis 2:19,20). Presumably in this way he gained much insight into the animal world created by God, including how they were all in pairs: male and female. In this way, he also discovered his own lack.

Perhaps it could be said that Adam neglected to "test the spirit whether it is of God" (1 John 4:1). He should have known - I think - that this is "not normal"; it is not in accordance with what he knew of God and therefore he should have rejected it and warned his wife. Yet he did not do it, and that may well be a warning to us Christian men to indeed do what John calls us to do: 'test the spirits whether they are of God'.

This is also the reason we need to read God's Word so that we can discern what comes from Him and what does not. Distinguish what is or is not in accordance with His being. Increase in the knowledge of God and the Lord Jesus Christ and discern the spirits that are not of Him.

You didn't get your mind for nothing

Adam had been given incredible abilities by God. The breath of life God Himself had breathed into his nostrils. With this he was given capacities that were divine in nature and that distinguished man from all other created beings. Thus, man became an image-bearer of God and still is.

It is the human spirit that he had been given to communicate with God. God - who is Spirit - could easily speak to the mind of man¹.
In addition, God has given man a mind to think about everything he perceives. The mind is also something that the rest of God's creatures have not received.

If Adam had used his mind and asked God what this was now with the speaking serpent he would surely have received an answer. He could have asked God directly, because before that he had received a spirit that could "speak" directly to the Spirit of God.

We could also say that Adam should have used his - God-given - mind. But today it is often objected that in spiritual things we are just now not should use our minds, but that we should judge things spiritually.
At the very least, that suggests that there is a contradiction between mind and spirit. But that, in my opinion, is a false contradiction. For God has given us both of these "functions" precisely to live here on earth using our "common sense" in which we have also been given the ability to communicate with God about it. Just read what Paul writes, for example: "How is it then? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will also sing praise with my mind." (1 Corinthians 14:15).

The communication - one might also say "fellowship" - between man and God was undisturbed and direct. What He said to them when He blessed them was communicated to them in a spiritual way. Their minds could understand the words God spoke to them so that they could carry it out and take it into account in their assigned management of creation (Genesis 1:28-30).

Receiving the Spirit

The Fall brought separation between God and man: the direct connection was severed. That means being "spiritually dead," as God had said: "... for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17).

We will not elaborate here on what this means for man after the Fall. Except this: man has a free will to seek and serve God. Even then, the Spirit of God works in him to show him the way in this and to "walk with God," as was the case with Enoch and Noah (Genesis 5:22; 6:9). For more on this, see also this article.

But now, after the cross of the Lord Jesus, eternal salvation is offered to every person. Every person who accepts that salvation receives the Holy Spirit indwelling. That means that the Spirit of God is within and cooperates with his own human spirit. Again, there is the same pattern here:

| God's Spirit -- spirit of man -- mind of man |

If you think about this you will no doubt come to the observation of how incredibly great that is. That the Spirit of God wants to come and dwell in a man and show him the way and guide him to the heavenly destination.

It is the Spirit within us that makes it possible for us to offer sacrifices of praise (cf. here). Moreover, He - the Spirit of Truth - teaches us in and out of the Word of Truth (John 14:17; 16:13; 1:13).

What a great grace of God it is that in this way He has restored for all who believe in Christ the relationship broken in the Garden! We are people like everyone else, but with a spirit already prepared for eternity. Spiritually, we are ready for heaven and only our bodies need to be changed. But that too will happen:

"(...) in an indivisible instant, in an instant, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised as imperishable men, and we too will be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:52)

That Spirit of God guides us as we read the Bible, enlightens our thinking and bears witness in us to the truth.
Therefore, we move on to the question of exactly what God had said to Adam.

What had God said?

To the important question of what God said, Eve answers and in doing so she adds something. One might ask whether that was really a mistake on Eve's part. Because in chapter 2 I read the following.

"The LORD God took man, and put him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and maintain it. ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded man, Of all the trees of the garden you may eat freely, ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of that you must not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.
¹⁸ Also the LORD God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make a help for him as one opposite him. ¹⁹ The LORD God formed from the ground of the earth all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and as Adam would call every living creature, so would his name be.
²⁰ So Adam gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the air and to all the beasts of the field; but for man he found no help as one opposite him. ²¹ Then the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, so that he fell asleep; and He took one of his ribs and sealed its place with flesh."
- Genesis 2:15-21

In it I read that first the "eating prohibition" is communicated by God (in verses 15 and 16). Then it is reported that Adam names all the animals in verse 19. Finally, it is described in verse 21 that the Lord created from Adam his wife Eve.
Given this order, I assume that God gave the eating prohibition to the man.

In any case, we can say that what Eve says is more than God said to Adam. She added something to it and that is the words "and do not touch him" (Genesis 3:3). But that doesn't mean you can blame Eve for adding to God's words. Because if Adam told Eve, we don't know the exact words he used to do so. Perhaps he discussed God's prohibition with Eve, adding something like '... and please don't touch it!' because of the severity of the prohibition. Maybe that's why she said '... and don't touch him'.
We don't know and so we leave it at that.

Echoing and understanding God's words

Nevertheless, it remains that we can say that somehow in the communication between people something was added to God's words. That happened in the garden and the result was that Eve and Adam ate of the fruit and thus sinned.

For us, the lesson is that we must read God's Word very precisely and learn to understand it. For everything we take away from it and leave out or add to it or think about it will sooner or later lead us down a wrong path, just as it began in the beginning.

The entire Bible - from Genesis 3 to Revelation 22 - testifies that we should neither subtract from nor add to God's Word.

“² You may get to the word that I command you, add nothing Nor take anything away from it, that you may observe the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you." - Deuteronomy 4:2
” ³² All this that I command you, you must observe closely. You may nothing to add Nor take anything away from it." - Deuteronomy 12:32
“¹⁸ For I testify to every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone does anything adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues written in this book." -Revelation 22:18

Even for today, it is extremely important to speak to one another about what God has said. So about what God has communicated and instructed us in His Word. But from that Word we must not subtract or add anything.

What had the Lord Jesus said?

But that this is not easy for us humans is also evident from that special history at the end of the Gospel according to John. There we read the following.

“Now this rumor, that this disciple would not die, spread among the brethren. But Jesus had not said to him that he would not die, but: If I want him to stay until I come, what business is it of yours?" (John 21:23)

The Lord had told Peter that Peter, when he was old, would die in a way that would be to the glory of God (22:18,19). But Peter would also like to hear from the Lord Jesus how John would end up then. From what the Lord then tells him, Peter concludes that John will continue to live until the Lord's return. And that is not all, for that story - the "rumor" - was passed on among the Christians.
Peter had not paid close attention to what the Lord had said and the meaning of His words. Thus, he had passed on his own interpretation to others and this "false rumor" had come into the world.

The Holy Spirit saw fit for this history to appear in God's Word and that is why John wrote it down. As far as I am concerned, this is also a lesson for us anno 2025. Great care in listening to the wording of scripture and staying far from quick interpretations.

A lesson from Paul and Apollos

In the congregation of Corinth, there was much disagreement. Parties disagreed with each other about all kinds of things. Discord all around and of course it was about "Bible interpretation"; how do we read the Bible, what does it mean and what should we do with it?

Various directions had arisen that relied on what they had learned from Paul, Apollos and Cephas (1 Corinthians 1:11-13). Paul and Apollos personally went there and worked there; Paul first and later Apollos (Acts 18). Of Cephas (Peter) we do not know, and no doubt oral teaching from Peter has been handed down. But the latter is not mentioned by Paul.

He does address what himself and Apollos taught in Corinth. Starting in chapter 1:18 he says important things in view of the divisions, but it is too far to go into them here. What concerns me here is that he mentions the teaching of himself and of Apollos in chapter 4:6.

“Now these things, brethren, I have applied to myself and Apollos for your sake, with the intention that you may learn from us to think of nothing above what is written, so that no one exalts himself in favor of one over another.”
- 1 Corinthians 4:6

The first thing Paul says here is that it is not decisive to whom we appeal. Not decisive is which professor, pastor, Bible teacher or brother we appeal to when it comes to the meaning of God's Word. All that matters is what is written. Not the authority of anyone else; even Paul sees himself as a worker in these portions, as does Apollos (1 Corinthians 3:5,9; 4:1). The Lord Himself will have to explain His Word (that which is written) to us again and again. Or perhaps it would be better to say that the Spirit of God must continually shine the light on God's Word, enlighten our thinking and give insight (2 Timothy 2:7).

Secondly, there is another special phrase: "...so that no one exalts himself above another for the benefit of one." This is a little strange, because the meaning would be immediately clear if it had read, "so that no one exalts himself above another at the expense of another." One can still imagine something with that: it is always at the expense of someone else, because one exalts himself above another. But "to the benefit of one" must then refer rather to the one to whom you appeal, because the more who appeal to the same will mean more honor for such a person. Indeed, in the Dutch EBV (evangelischebijbelvertaling.nl) it is also written this way: "...so that no one exalts himself above his neighbor by appeal to another person."

In summary, the assignment is:
in our thinking and speaking not to go beyond what Scripture says
and not relying on what others have taught.
We must continually be taught by God Himself from His Word.

Related articles
On the Fall: https://goddienen.nu/over-de-zondeval-en-nederigheid/

Note TdJ - What we have discovered in this article about spirit and mind has implications in many other areas, in my opinion. We will elaborate on that in upcoming articles DV.

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Footnotes

1. See, for example, 1 Corinthians 2:9-14 where important things are said about the Spirit of God and the spirit of man. The Spirit of God testifies in the mind of man. See, for example, Romans 8:16; 9:1; Acts 20:23; Hebrews 10:15; 1 John 5:6. ↩︎