Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Comment: This a long passage which is know at least in part by most people – even by people who don’t read the Bible – a snake, Eve eating an ‘apple’, nakedness, fig leaves! But, as we head up to Christmas. I want to look at several of the Old Testament passages which at least hint at the fact that God is interested in dealing with the rebellion which has separated God from mankind. The important portion which I want to emphasize is the following – ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.‘ The ‘you’ and ‘your’ grammatically refer to the snake (Satan). A crushed head equals death or severe injury. The woman’s ‘offspring’ could mean all mankind or one of her offspring. I’m pretty sure that it didn’t mean much to Adam and Eve, unless God, walking in the garden, explained in more depth the meaning to them! In hindsight, and with all the other OT passages talking of the coming Messiah, many (?most) Christians, who study the Bible seriously, think that it refers to what Jesus did to Satan at the Easter event, when Satan was defeated. I believe it to mean just that!
Prayer: Thank You that Jesus came at Christmas time. Please help us not to be obsessed with gifts and parties, Father.
As I read it! 