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Creation Examination

hiscosmicgoldfish

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Creation - Genesis, Eve and the Serpent

In the Garden of Eden, the beast ‘that was’, and ‘is not’, was physically present; the dragon or serpent which beguiled Eve:

Genesis, Chapter 3:
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Let us assume that these verses are literal for now, and then work with the symbolism and metaphor later. To begin with, we have a conversation between a serpent and Eve.
Whatever this serpent was, at this time he appears to be a talking serpent. No mention of telepathy or sign language; they carried on a conversation.

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”

There is mention of a tree, and the tree is assumed to be a symbol for something, but a symbol for what? The forbidden fruit is symbolic for something else. She eats of this fruit; it is fruit from the tree and the tree has a possible connection to the serpent.

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 for God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

The fruit is a symbol for something that the serpent has, pleasant to the eyes, and makes one wise. It is the wisdom of the serpent and his intellect which is corrupted by his brightness- indicating deceptive or malign illumination.

Ezekiel 28:
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground; I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

(Genesis 3):
And gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

She also gave to her husband. Gave what? It does not say that she passed on the fruit; it is now something that she possesses. It is greater understanding and knowledge that she took from the serpent. They became aware of a sense of shame for the first time. The fall from grace manifested at this instance, a feeling of shame. Something spiritual had happened.

8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

Again the text states: she gave him ‘of the tree’; it does not say that she passed him the fruit. Nowhere does it say that Adam ate fruit. The fruit is a symbol for something else.

Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

The LORD said ‘have you eaten from the tree’… He did not say ‘Have you eaten the fruit of the tree’.

13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Eve said that it was the serpent’s fault.

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent:
Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.

The serpent is made to eat dust. The serpent is likened to a worm or a snake - perhaps transformed into a worm. The serpent was something else before becoming worm-like. ‘All the days of your life’ - the serpent is likened to the earthy dust, cursed and consuming dust as a worm; he will live for a number of literal days, and then he will perish.
Eve was not as wise as the serpent. The anointed cherub had great knowledge and experience of things in the heavenly realm. Eve had been warned not to take of the tree that stood in the centre of the garden; the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, however, she was curious about the serpent.
Perhaps hiding behind a tree, and peeping a look at the serpent, she might have wondered what was he doing, and where he was going.
Perhaps then, Eve continued to play hide and seek with Adam, running around giggling, being oblivious of any danger. Adam and Eve, running about happily and playing like children.
Perhaps then, Eve got tired of playing with Adam and her curiosity regarding the serpent grew. She approached the serpent, cautiously. The serpent was a friendly and nice looking cherub; he was a nice cherub. She approached the serpent and they became friends. And they ran about in the garden then the three of them. The fun and games continued and then Adam and Eve realised that they had done something wrong, and they experienced a feeling of shame, and so they ran away to hide from the LORD, as they realised that they had disobeyed God.

The LORD knew what had happened naturally, and he asked Eve what had been going on, and so Eve said to the Lord that it was the serpent’s fault, as the serpent had tricked her, and it wasn’t her fault, as the serpent had made them do it. The fall from grace had begun.

The serpent in the Garden of Eden was the covering cherub, an order of supernatural angel, being literally present in the garden prior to the fall from grace. The serpent was not the only cherub present in the garden, but he was the ‘[bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] of the roost’; the once-anointed cherub, covering the earth. The cherubim which were present in the garden are symbolised by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The fruit of that tree is shame and sin, a loss of innocence and a deeper awareness, resulting in a rebellious and sinful nature, which is transmitted on through to each generation.

Genesis One (Interlinear Literal Translation)

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth;
2 And the earth being without form and empty, and darkness on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moving gently on the face of the waters,
3 then God said, Let light be - and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good, and God separated between the light and the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day. And He called the darkness Night. And there was evening and there was morning the first day.

The earth was void - without form, deep, dark and empty. There was light and there was darkness and they are separated. The light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness. The light is called Day, and the darkness is called Night. There is evening, and there is morning, the first day.

6 And God said, Let an expanse be in the midst of the waters, and let it divide between the waters and the waters.
7 And God made the expanse, and He separated between the waters which were under the expanse and the waters which were above the expanse.
And it was so.
8 And God called the expanse, Heavens. And there was evening and there was morning the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be collected to one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so.
10 And God called the dry land, Earth. And He called the collection of the waters, Seas, and God saw that it was good.

There was water originally, and out of the water the material of earth was derived.

Genesis 2 (Interlinear Literal Translation)

8 And Jehovah God planted a garden in Eden, to the east; He put the man whom He had formed there.
9 And out of the ground Jehovah God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food. The Tree of Life was also in the middle of the garden; also the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The Tree of Life is a symbolic representation of the Life of Jehovah God, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is a representation of the fallen angels, as they possessed that greater knowledge and awareness, and with that the loss of innocence is transmitted to mankind in the fall, then having a share with the fallen.

15 And Jehovah God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden, to work it and to keep it.
16 And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, You may freely eat of every tree in the garden;
17 but of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.

Genesis 3 (Interlinear Literal Translation)

14 And Jehovah God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all the beasts, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed – He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.

The woman and the serpent have seed; a male child for the woman (and the serpent also produces seed). This is also a reference to the woman as Israel and Church- the seed of the woman is Jesus Christ and followers- believers in Christ.

22 And Jehovah God said, Behold! The man has become as one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand and also take from the tree of Life, and eat, and live forever-

There is a risk that the man will put forth his hand; (hand in this case is associated with actions), so the risk here is actions of man, reaching into the Garden of Eden again, and taking hold from the Tree of Life, and thus risk causing man to live forever, (eating from the Tree of Life).

23 And Jehovah God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground out of which he was taken.
24 And He drove the man out. And He caused to dwell the cherubs at the east of the Garden of Eden, and the flaming sword whirling around, to guard the way of the tree of Life.

‘And He caused to dwell the cherubs’… so there were cherubs dwelling at this location on the earth, at the east wing of Eden. These cherubs were guarding the way to the Tree of Life, (which is a symbolic representation of the eternal life offered by Jehovah God), and this is emphasising the separation, as it is not yet the time for the restoration, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The cherubim were dwelling east of Eden; a supernatural-reptilian type which co-existed with the first man and woman, physically present at the dawn of creation.
 

Calminian

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I couldn't make rhyme or reason of the above. Seems you've decided what is symbolic arbitrarily, instead of letting the author indicate one way other the other. When read in a straightforward way, there are no symbols. The snake was real and could talk. Adam and Eve are put forth as real people, connected to a line of other real people connected to Noah and to Abraham and eventually connected to Jesus.
 
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