Genesis Chapter 3
With the foundation laid during the examination given here of Genesis chapter 2, it should already be wholly evident that Genesis chapter 3 does not present an account concerning snakes and the eating of an apple, a tale obviously invented for the benefit of childhood innocence, which sadly many children growing up continue to believe as adults. The offense which caused the fall of Adam from immortality into mortal decay and death, as Paul explains in Romans chapter 5, is much more serious than the eating of some fruit.
Rather, Genesis chapter 3 is a parable about sex, and specifically fornication, which is sex with those who are not of one’s own kind (Jude 7), a violation of the first laws of Genesis, that of “everything after its kind”. This story is portrayed as a parable, and not as a historical account, and it is told using idioms and euphemisms, rather than providing an explicitly graphic detail. An examination of these idioms along with an assessment of the aftermath of the act as it is related in the second half of the chapter makes it perfectly clear that this interpretation is the only one plausible and valid in all respects.
The “serpent” here is not a literal snake, but “The Devil, and Satan”, as we learn in many later Scriptures, and notably Revelation chapter 12. The “fruit of the trees of the garden” are clearly contrasted to the “tree which is in the midst of the garden”. The verbs understood here to mean to touch and to eat are on many occasions clearly used in later Scriptures as euphemisms for sexual relations. The ability to be “as gods” and the acquirement of knowledge in this context are both related to sexual awakening in the literature of Mesopotamia extant at the time of Abraham and Moses, specifically the very ancient Epic of Gilgamesh. All of this is demonstrated here at Christogenea in Shemitic Idioms and Genesis Chapter Three , along with numerous other essays also available here (click here for an index). These papers explain all of the idioms, dictionary definitions of the words in question, and examples of how they are used elsewhere in scripture in order to substantiate the claims being made here.
As soon as Eve was seduced, and Adam shared with her in the forbidden “fruit”, they both became suddenly ashamed over their nakedness (Genesis 3:7). It must be noted that before this event, Adam and his wife are depicted as being naked, but not ashamed (Genesis 2:25). This is properly interpreted only with an understanding of the operation of conscience regarding the source of one’s guilt following an act of wrongdoing. Here the wrongdoing must have been of a sexual nature, since it is directly connected to nakedness. Following the seduction of Eve by the serpent, Yahweh God dictates the consequences of what had occurred. With this we see that the woman would bear children in sorrow, that her desire would be to her husband, and that her “seed”, or offspring, would forever be at enmity with the “seed”, or offspring, of the serpent (Genesis 3:15-16).
All of the punishments dictated to Eve clearly indicate that the offense involved was sexual in nature: hence the resulting “seed”, or offspring, the fact that Eve’s desire would be to her husband rather than to another, and that those offspring would cause her sorrow. This is cause and effect: the punishment is a result of the crime. Anyone who dismisses this interpretation is simply refusing to view these things as a rational and responsible adult, and preferring instead to believe the tales which he learned as a child. The same essays cited in the above paragraphs also explain that indeed the children born to Eve as described in Genesis 4:1, Cain and Abel, are the “seed”, or offspring, of both Eve with the serpent, and Eve with Adam. This will be further discussed in the next section of this overview, concerning Genesis chapter 4.
Links:
Index of papers discussing Genesis chapter 3
Genesis Chapters 1 through 11 2 were discussed at length by William Finck with Sword Brethren on the recent Pragmatic Genesis series.
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