The Shrewd Serpent

The Shrewd Serpent

Genesis 3:1 – Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” 2 – The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; 3 – but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’” 4 – The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, 5 – for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.”

So that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. – Revelation 12:9 – At the beginning the whole world consisted of two people: Adam and Eve.  The serpent  only needed to deceive one – that was 50% and the other 50% misunderstood God just enough to go along with the deception despite knowing better.

After thousands of years the serpent is still deceiving the whole world! He is still as shrewd as he ever was and he is still speaking lies from forbidden trees!  This time, however, he cloaks his power and voice behind two different beasts. – see the details in Revelation 13. The second beast was empowered to give life to the image of the first beast so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He also caused everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. – Revelation 13:11-16

Half the world will be like Eve, tricked into believing the lies – marked in the forehead.  The other half will be like Adam – marked in the hand, receiving the sin from the hand of his mate despite knowing better.

Is it really true that you must not make and worship any graven image or else you’ll die? It is written:  “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me, and showing covenant faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. – Exodus 20:4-6.

It is also written:  Indeed! All lives are mine – the life of the father as well as the life of the son is mine. The one who sins will die. – Ezekiel 18:4.

God says – “worship the image and you’ll die.”

The serpent says – “worship the image or else you’ll die.”

What are we going to do?  How can we escape such overwhelming temptation to sin?  The answer is in the eternal gospel of Jesus Christ.

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, and he had an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth – to every nation, tribe, language, and people. He declared in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!” – Revelation 14:6-7

For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. – John 3:16-17.