Genesis 3:4-5

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

From Background Notes [BN] for July 7^th & 8^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

As far as the humans in this story are concerned, they are dealing with a creature (wild animal), inferior to themselves, that they encountered in the garden God provisioned for them.

God had commanded Adam to give names to all such creatures in Genesis 2:19-20, and by doing so, Adam assumed dominion over them as God had planned (Genesis 1:28). Therefore, Adam had met the serpent before, and he had named it! Therefore, after the fall, the humans would have no reason for blaming their failure on the fact that some superior creature overwhelmingly bent their choice to its will, and that they could not help themselves in what they wrongfully did. The man and the woman made their decision with their eyes open to the reality before them. Put simply, they had no business talking to the serpent or listening to the serpent or taking advice from the serpent or paying heed to the serpent, since the serpent belonged to an order of being below them and dependent on them. They had no business talking to a snake! [BN, 5]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am, 5:30pm