In my previous email I asked you to compare the woman’s response
to the commandment Yahweh gave the man. If you did that you probably noticed
that Yahweh did not say “do not touch the tree.” It looks
like the man added a commandment of his own, but for some reason – he didn’t
tell her. And by the way, Yahweh didn’t tell her either. Therefore, in
her reality, Yahweh commanded it. There were two people with two
different realities about God’s will in the Garden of Eden!
Does anything about the name I chose for this contest stand out --
“Two Humans vs. One Snake”? Modern Americans tend to view it as “One Man
and One Woman vs. One Snake.” We see people as individuals.
The ancients did not view people that way. “Individualism”
did not exist until the 16th century CE. In addition to that, the
first story in the Bible set the stage for this story. The humans in it were
part of a collective called “the image of God,” which was
also identified as a “family.” The family was the only human
institution the Creator created. In ancient cultures people viewed themselves
as members of a collective for a very simple reason. Individuals would not have
been able to survive on their own. Would changing the name I chose to one of
those below have affected the way you read it?
The Image
of God vs. One Snake
A Family
vs. One Snake
Either name would make it clear the snake is attacking a
collective, not just one woman. The name change would also reveal the man’s responsibility
of protecting her.
The snake was just doing what wild predators do -- single out
the weakest member of a group to attack! The woman was the weakest human because
she had been given misinformation by the man. Was the man’s ego keeping him
from doing anything now? Was he afraid his lie would be exposed? Thus, with the
man being a nonthreat to the snake, it continued to attack her.
3:4-5 And the serpent said to the woman,
“Ya’ll will
not surely die, for the god knows that
in the day
you eat of it ya’lls eyes will be opened,
and ya’ll
will be like a god, knowing TOV (good) and RAH (evil).”
Let’s break down the snake’s words so we can better understand the
snake’s strategy.
● “Ya’ll will not surely die . . .”
– It called Yahweh’s words an outright lie.
It also took away the ultimate threat and primary obstacle keeping her from
eating the forbidden fruit. It changed “a life or death decision” into simply a
choice about eating some fruit.
● “. . . for the god knows . . .” – Next the snake attacked the character of the god. It implies that
god knows something he is not telling them. Interestingly, the humans seem to
have forgotten it is a wild animal that is talking -- a wild animal that the
man named “snake”!
What if it
was a fish, bird, cow or earthworm doing the talking?
Would that change
the story in your mind?
Remember this is an animal talking
about a god; not a god talking about being a god! Maybe this is a
religious snake!
● “. . . in the day ya’ll eat of it
ya’lls eyes will be opened and ya’ll will be like a god . . .” A creature that is lower than humans is telling them how to
become like a creature that is higher than humans!
Always remember
to keep in mind who, and what,
is the source
of the words you are hearing –
before giving
them any consideration.
The snake promised a fake reward
for eating a piece of deadly fruit. The man continued standing there
and doing nothing! Why? Science did not understand how brain hacking works until
the late 20th century, but as you will see in my next email, it
appears that the snake has just hacked two people’s brains. Please share this with
others and discuss it. Thank you
for exploring biblical heritages with us.
Jim Myers
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