Genesis 3: How the Serpent Lost Its Legs

Summary: The serpent tells Eve to eat of the fruit. She does so, and Adam also eats. They become aware of their nakedness. The Lord banishes them from Eden. The snakes legs are taken away.

Personal Reflection: First of all, I was struck by how much this story reminds me of an African folk-tale like how the elephant got its trunk. This chapter could be entitled "How the Serpent Lost Its Legs." It is interesting that snakes have vestigial legs and also that there are paintings of serpents with legs in Egyptian art. (I feel that I have linked you to some interesting sites there at least).

I have to insert a note here. My main reading of the text comes from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV). I also reference the New International Version (NIV) often so I can get a better handle on what is actually going on in the story. In the KJV the language can get in the way a bit. Sometimes, though, I like my reading of the KJV better.

The Lord tell Adam in verse 17, "cursed is the ground for thy sake" (my emphasis). I truly believe that life is better when we are forced to endure the trial of work. When we have work to do we are happier. Truly, the Lord cursed the ground for us; to make the most of us. My best friend believes heartily in the power of pain. She says that the Lord knows just the right amount of pain that we can endure that will help us to grow the most. We wouldn't pick that pain for ourselves, but He knows what we need and is intimately involved in our lives (what we choose to do with the pain is our own choice, but that's another matter altogether).

Question: Why does the Lord ask Adam so many questions? Doesn't he know the answers to the questions he is asking already?

Yes; I'm sure God knew all the answers to his questions, but I think when God asks questions of his children He doesn't want to know the answer; He wants them to discover the answer, to look around inside themselves and find out who they, to make a choice about whether they're going to be truthful or deceitful. God knows who we are inside and out; He knows our potential, but we don't. If he doesn't ask us the questions and give us the room to act, we will never have the chance to learn about ourselves and grow to reach that potential.

This chapter holds a lot of meaning for me. Here's the last thing I want to talk about. At the end of the chapter, the Lord sets up means so that Adam and Eve can't come back to the Garden of Eden. He says he does this because "Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever" (vs. 22). So man is like God in the fact that he has knowledge and consciousness, but he can't live forever. He also doesn't have the power of God. To give man an eternity with only the knowledge to distinguish right from wrong and wandering the earth as it now is would be a Hell of sorts. Gods mercy is shown by the fact that he prevents Adam and Eve from being able to choose an eternity of wandering the earth.

Note: If you ever have any profound (or not so profound) questions you would like me to consider, or if you ever have extra information you would like to provide, I'd be happy if you dropped me a comment.