Why don’t any snakes eat plants?
(Genesis 3; Rom. 16:20; Rev. 12:7-9) Blog Apr. 03-09, 2022
Prepared by Richard A. Marin: Present Truth PO Box 700, Fallbrook CA 92088-0700 USA
REVIEW: In the beginning of this earth God created a perfect world and placed in it a variety of life forms. As his crowing work, he created man, male and female, and gave them dominion, individuality and responsibility. They were also made accountable to be obedient to their Creator. This obedience was to be proved by one simple test: to refrain from eating of one of the many fruitful trees that God provided for their nourishment. As a sign of their faithfulness to this covenant with their Maker, God gave them a blessed Sabbath rest.
The Serpent
1. How are we to understand the Genesis record of a “serpent”? While Moses doesn’t list here the connection between Lucifer, the covering cherub, & the serpent, John in Revelation makes clear the connection by telling us that there was war in heaven & “that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan… was cast out into the earth” (Isa. 14:12-14; Eze. 28:12-17; Rev. 12:7-9).
2. What kind of serpent do many Mesoamerican people groups worship? Many Mesoamerican people groups worship a feathered serpent, giving us to believe that such was the one used by Lucifer to deceive Eve (Gen. 3:1; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feathered_Serpent).
3. In what did the serpent invite Eve to participate? The serpent invited Eve to participate in a Bible study (Gen. 3:1).
4. What truths did the Serpent mention in his dialogue with Eve? The Serpent mentioned eating of every tree in the garden & of becoming like God, knowing good & evil (Gen. 1:29; 3:1, 5, 22).
5. What popular Christian error did the Serpent express to Eve? Satan advocated the idea that the human soul is immortal & will never die (Gen. 3:4; Mal. 4:1).
6. What three things about the forbidden fruit appealed to Eve and are the three areas in which Satan tempts us? We are tempted by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, & the pride of life. It was in these three areas (“good for food,” “pleasant to eyes,” & “to be desired to make one wise”) that Eve was tempted but in her was no internal lust for evil like dwells in us (Gen. 3:6; 1 John 2:16).
7. Who did the serpent use to convince Adam to eat the forbidden fruit? Satan used Eve to convince Adam to eat the forbidden fruit for her experience seemed pleasant because the results of her sin had not yet taken place (Gen. 3:6; Eccl. 8:11).
8. Who would Satan likely use to get you to do wrong? Satan generally uses friends, relatives, trusted leaders, or pastors to turn people from the right way (Micah 7:6; Matt. 10:36; 2 Cor. 11:13-15).
The Sin
9. When Adam and Eve sinned, what immediate need did they sense? Adam & Eve immediately sensed a need for a covering for their nakedness (Gen. 3:7).
10. When Adam sinned, who fell? In Adam the entire human race fell for he was our federal head & representative before God (Hos. 6:7; 1 Cor. 15:22).
See also https://liferesearchinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/PT.9-1.pdf
11. What is included in the fall of our federal head, Adam? In our representative, Adam, we all became guilty (condemned to eternal death) before God. Our natures became corrupt, with a propensity toward evil. The result was a gradual weakening of humanity’s physical, mental, & moral powers (Gen. 2:16-17; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 5:12-19; 7:23; 2 Cor. 4:16).
12. What terms does Paul use to refer to the original guilt and fallen natures that we inherit from Adam? Paul calls our original guilt “condemnation” & refers to the fallenness of our natures as “corruption” (Rom. 5:16; 8:21).
13. Before God sentenced Adam, Eve, and the serpent, what did he do? Before passing sentence on the guilty, God conducted an investigation allowing the guilty to acknowledge their sin & repent (Just as he will do in final judgment) (Gen. 3:9-11; Rom. 14:11-12).
14. Why is it that Adam and Eve blamed something other than themselves for their sin? Adam & Eve, like us, were unable to bear guilt for it is a very life-threatening burden, so they sought to transfer it to someone else (Gen. 3:12-13; 4:13; Ex. 34:7; Heb. 9:22).
15. Is it possible to transfer guilt from one person to another? God has made it possible to transfer our guilt from ourselves to Jesus, thus freeing us from the condemnation (Rom. 8:1; 2 Cor. 5:21).
16. When will our corruption of nature be removed? For those who pass God’s final judgment, their sinful natures will be eradicated when they are glorified at the voice of God under the seventh plague just prior to Jesus’ second coming (Rom. 7:24-25; 8:17-21; Rev. 16:17).
The Solution
17. How did God respond to Adam and Eve’s sin? God responded with blessings & curses. Even in the curses there were blessings (Gen. 3:14-19).
18. What blessing did God include in his curse of the serpent? While cursing the serpent God stated that he would provide a way to resist the serpent & would eventually end his existence though the seed of the woman: the promised Messiah who would be sacrificed like the animals whose skins provided clothing for the guilty pair (Gen. 3:15, 21).
19. Why don’t any snakes in the world eat plants? Not a single snake chooses plants for its food although all other forms of animals do, because God cursed the serpent condemning it to eat dust which represents what animals are made of (Gen. 2:19; 3:14).
20. When God cursed the ground for Adam’s sake how was that a blessing? The curse of the physical earth gave Adam a lesson in how to root out evil not only from his garden but from his sinful nature which is what is implied by “ground” in the curse (Gen 3:17-19).