Let us leer at that for a moment and as we do, remember that from the Historic Orthodox Christian point of opinion, we are neither looking at analogy, symbolism, nor mythology. This is historic reality. There is an elitist group of fools today who believe they are demonstrating famous sagaciousness and urbanity by branding Genesis as religious mythology. But all this hapless gaggle of demonic dupes are really proving is that they never learned the lesson of the importance of clothing, particularly as it applies to their relieve sides. A dinky later on we will use some time on mythology. When we do, it will be seen that the host of religious myths throughout the world have sprung up from the Genesis epic of the Garden, the Serpent, and the sizable Flood. This, by the unprejudiced application of legitimate anthropology, is proof-positive of the authenticity of the Bible and the Genesis epic. In every location where religion has been perverted for hundreds of years by pagan beliefs and practices, there is aloof a popular bond and it is the Biblical relate. The one which we are looking at here, Eve and the serpent and the Tree, has been told in all eras of man and in every civilization throughout the world. The heathenizing and the corrupting of the Biblical truth through Zorastorism, Hinduism, and other groundless and bazaar religions cannot obscure the sure truth that one favorite source–a truth that has been paramount in the minds of people and tribes of all ages–is where it all began. What does the Bible enlighten us about the identity of the serpent? Was it the devil himself?
Gen. 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen. 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen. 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Gen. 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen. 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, radiant reliable and injurious.
Gen. 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was satisfactory for food, and that it was agreeable to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to compose one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
The Identity of the Serpent
Was the serpent the devil himself? Was he a representative of the devil, or was he fair a created, shining being that the devil was able to work through? And if he was a creature that the devil was working and speaking through, was this voluntary or involuntary? Did the serpent have a choice; or was he unprejudiced the hapless victim of the devil? If the serpent was not the devil but a willing confederate, why did he decide to do this? What motivated him? And what was in it for him or perhaps we should say, what did he mediate was in it for him?
There are Biblical passages that fill on this subject and we want to peer at some of them now. St. Paul, speaking of this very time and state in the Garden of Eden, said to the Church in II Corinthians 11:3, “But I apprehension, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” But is this Biblical proof that the serpent was the devil, or does it only display that he was being veteran by the devil?
Looking further we fetch, Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 that the serpent is called “the devil and Satan.” But is Revelation not a book of symbols? Is this not only a characterization of Satan as a serpent without actually and literally saying that he is a serpent or was the serpent in the Garden?
In John 8:44, Jesus told the spurious religionists, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” The beginning of which Jesus is speaking cannot refer to the beginning of God who had no beginning, and does not refer to the beginning of Satan since Ezekiel 28:15 says of Satan, “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee” (thus indicating that Satan was not a sinner from the very beginning of his having been created) . Jesus can only be referring to the same beginning of which Genesis speaks. It is the beginning of this universe; the beginning of the heavens and the earth and the human accelerate. Satan was a liar from that beginning.
In I John 3:8, the Apostle adds to this when he writes, “for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might end the works of the devil.” Here the Bible puts this beginning in the era of man and this creation for it is here that the Son of God was manifested.
And then, Ezekiel 28:13 says of Satan, “Thou hast been in Eden the Garden of God,” although this may be referring to a happier time with Satan before his tumble, somewhere else in a happy area with God before the creations of the heavens and the earth. What does Historic Christian Orthodoxy do of these Scriptures?
The Orthodox Doctrine
The devil, who had fallen before the Genesis creation, was in the Garden of Eden. The serpent was not actually the devil, but the devil was not only working through him; he had assumed the serpent’s personality. This was done with the cooperation and consent of the serpent who, for some reason which is not identified, had decided to rebel against the Creator and wished to perceive mankind brought down.
Religious thinkers have speculated about the motives of the serpent. Some have said that his wisdom and beauty caused him to become vain and lust for power in the sparkling realms by competing with God philosophically about the truth. Others have belief that he was envious and competitive with man and wanted to replace him as the ruler of the Garden. serene others have belief that the serpent lusted sensually after Eve and wanted to involve her in the forbidden and thus to separate her from Adam. These may be arresting ideas but they can mean no more than that because the Bible does not explain definitively, or even clearly, about it.
That Satan is able to remove the personality of others and declare through them and as them is accepted in the Bible. This is often done on the pages of Scripture, not only by imps and demons, but by Satan himself. In notice 5:15, 16, we read of a man that Jesus went to seek who was possessed of the devil. In this record the devil spoke out from within this man, assuming his inform and personality. In Matthew 16:21-23, we read of a time when Satan assumed the shriek and personality of St. Peter, Jesus’ bear disciple. Jesus turned around and looked at Peter but rebuked Satan who was speaking through him. It may well be that this was not a case of possession; in fact it likely was not. But Jesus makes it unarguably sure that Satan was using Peter to promote his ideas. In deed, there are titanic theological similarities in these two events. There, Satan passe a pleasing and wise creature to bring the speed down. Here, he uses the gregarious, spontaneous, likable Peter to try to prevent Christ from going to the corrupt to redeem fallen man. Satan was able to do a similar, even more severe, thing with another of Jesus’ disciples, Judas Iscariot. John 13:2 says that Satan set aside it in the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus, but Luke 22:3 says that Satan entered into Judas. After the Resurrection and Pentecost these possessions and mind-manipulations continued to pick location. In Acts, 5: 3, St. Peter asked the fake man Ananias. “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? ” Here St. Peter indicates that Satan was slack this and was the instigator; but that it could not have been done without Ananias’ consent. In Acts Chapter 19: 13-16, a more sensational chronicle is given. In this case, fraudulent apostles undertook to cast demons out of possessed people. The devils, speaking through these people, defied and chided them by saying, “We know Jesus and we know the Apostle Paul, but we don’t know you.” Then in a singular event in Scripture they compelled and empowered these possessed people to jump on the groundless apostles and do them serious physical distress.
The Invisible Hand slow the Vail
The Historic Orthodox Christian plot is that the residence in the Garden where Satan assumed the declare and personality of the serpent may be the first such event (at least it is the first recorded) but this phenomenon is not modern or recent by Biblical norms. One of the high cards that the devil has played through the ages is to effect his believe reality seem ludicrous to gullible and fallen man. Man thinks he is too sophisticated and luminous to beget in the devil, even though it is he who has goaded man into atheism, lawlessness, blindness, and unbelief. That suits the devil honest aesthetic but it does not suit Historic Orthodox Christianity at all. We maintain that men should be aware of the realities and activities of the enemy of the soul. In I Peter 5:8, the Apostles says that Satan is prowling around like a roaring lion (or in other words a stalking or a ravening lion) seeking whom he may indulge in. We are exhorted be sober and watchful.
There Is a Baby In The Bath Water
Certainly there have been foolish and fabulous things done and said by religious men that have played into the hands of the devil and have added to the opinion that Satan is a anecdote. The charade that goes with this subject in charismatic humanism today–the tacky, impertinent, arrogant, and disrespectful scheme in which this whole subject of the existence and the works of the devil is treated–does not project spiritual maturity or power. It is an ego-centered, sensual, heady, emotionally unstable thing that discredits its practitioners and gives fuel to the fires of the enemy. Such people would do well to remove a lesson from the Bible itself and from the holy angels. In the letter of St. Jude to the Church (he being Thadeous or Judas, one of the novel Twelve) the Apostle is warning against lawless independence and disrespect for authority; even those in non-Christian society. St. Jude says that these unfounded religionists judge they have a factual from God to whisper against authorities. “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.”
Maybe the Only Funeral God Ever Conducted
In Deuteronomy 34:5-7, Moses had died. This epic is new for several reasons. First of all, there was nothing physically unsuitable with Moses. Verse 7 says his spy was not dark, nor his natural force abated. In other words, his eyesight was lively and he was in exquisite health. Moses died voluntarily so that the children of Israel could go into the Promised Land, which they could not do as long as he was alive. The reason for that is another subject which we cannot go into now. This was not a case of suicide. Moses was 120 years musty and his life and work had approach to an slay. He went up into Mount Pisgah with the Lord where he was allowed to peep over and watch the Promised Land. Then he laid down and died. Another new aspect to this space is that the Lord Himself buried Moses and no man knew where his grave was. This was an expression of honor for Moses.
The devil did know where the body of Moses was buried and he tried to consume it. God apparently knew that the devil would do this because He sent Michael the Archangel to guard the grave against robbery, presumably until the body had decayed. What Satan wanted with the body of Moses is not certain. Perhaps he wanted to present it to the enemies of Israel in an distress to humiliate and demoralize God’s people. This was often done in those days when a stout king, leader, or warrior had died. Or maybe he wanted to present it to his imps in the underworld so he could claim that he had killed Moses and defeated God. But whatever the reason, he wanted it and Michael would not let him have it. In the process of contending with this considerable, once superb, and worthy being, Michael would not insult, chide, or condemn. He refused to gain into a name calling argument. He said in do, “Satan, I am only doing my job. God will have to be the one to rebuke you.”
The ego-centered, theatrical, disrespectful, and bizarre scheme that this subject has been, and is being, treated in many instances is not helpful and undermines biblical credibility on this subject. Yet in spite of the fact that in some quarters of Christianity this subject is handled poorly, we must not throw the baby out with the bath water. We are commanded to resist the devil and the Bible does give us mighty information about his activities. A few will assist to dramatize Satan’s reality and the kinds of things he is up to for the support of the misinformed and/or the uninformed.
There is a scene in the book of Daniel which reveals some startling and animated things about the devil, his reality, and activities. In this memoir Daniel, who is in captivity in Babylon, has been having prophetic visions. One of them was so troubling and mysterious that it made Daniel sick. In Chapter 10, Daniel has been praying earnestly for the meaning to a vision and also for the deliverance of his people; apparently without success, but he perseveres. At last, in verse 10, a big angel, not Michael and probably Gabriel, appears. He tells Daniel that he had been dispatched to bring Daniel the reply three weeks earlier but he was delayed. A great despicable angel (some acquire the devil himself, others judge it was one of his chief lieutenants identified here as the Prince of Persia) seized Gabriel and would not let him go. So intense was this struggle that it lasted for 21 days. Finally, Gabriel had to call for Michael to succor him. He was so exhausted when the struggle was over he had to halt where he was for some time in order to earn his strength. To achieve this matter in perspective would select a watch in itself, but the point here is to expose how intimately and powerfully Satan and his hosts are at work in this world and its affairs.
Many people are familiar with the chronicle in the book of Job where Satan got in line with God’s servants and came up before God. God asked Satan what he had been doing and he replied that he had been walking up and down in the earth and looking around. God said asked Satan if he had taken see of the top-notch and faithful man Job. This may content a behind-the-scenes drama where Satan had been arguing that the plunge, which he had engineered in the Garden, was working and that God’s whole creation was turning against Him and to Satan. In any event, God brings the example of Job to Satan’s attention. This angered Satan and he accused God of partiality toward Job in order to choose his loyalty. Then God allows a site to form that shows that Job loves and worships and serves God because God is God; and Job, the man of faith, believes in God.
Historic Orthodox Christianity does not contain that Satan is composed able to arrive up before God in His throne but that he lost this power and privilege at the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. This is taught, we gain in Luke 10:18, Hebrews 2:14, 15 and Revelation 12: 9. These passages assure that Satan fell from heaven, indeed he was cast out, and he was cast down to the earth. This is his only sphere of influence now. The power of death that he had before, in whatever it consisted of, was destroyed by the obnoxious.
One of the most much stories about Satan and his activities is found in several of the gospels concerning the wilderness temptations of Christ. In these accounts Satan is arguing with Jesus; he is quoting the Bible to Him; he is trying to trick Him by misrepresenting what faith is; he is trying to tempt Him on the basis of His physical and material needs; and he is even able to catch physical gain upon Jesus and proceed Him through the air from the wilderness to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus’ defense and example is valid of impress. He would not argue, scoff, insult, or threaten. He simply said, “It is written.”
St. Paul makes it certain that the Christian struggle is not against the mythologists, the philosophers, the evolutionists, or the unfounded religionists directly. The conflict is with the faulty hand that is manipulating slack the scenes. It is Satan, working through these things by assuming their acquire and sigh, who is the steady enemy. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,” he said in Ephesians 6:12, “But against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
The serpent was not the devil, but he was in league with the devil for his beget reasons. The devil had assumed his personality and protest. God acknowledged that union and closeness when he addressed the devil through the serpent and said to Satan while speaking to the serpent, “I will achieve enmity between thee and the woman and between your seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
The Born Loser
Two facts are evidenced by the final result of the serpent’s participation. First, the serpent received his acquire judgment, condemnation, and sentence showing that he was a certain personality and creature from the devil. And then, the serpent himself was tricked by the devil, archaic by him, destroyed by that unholy alliance, and cast aside when he was no longer needed or useful. It was all going to b so nice, so gigantic, and so fantastic, but it did not work out in the demolish. He never got what he was promised. He did not net the control of the Garden; he did not accept the praise and admiration of the creatures of the Garden; and he did not collect the girl. What he got instead was a demotion to the lowest, most humiliating, and most despised place in life. He got the hatred of humanity, and a heel on the head from the Seed of the Woman whom he compromised.
And so it has ever been with cheaters, thieves, rebels, fools, liars, suckers, and unbelievers who go that same garish arrangement, following the spangled path they deem is leading to a pot of gold; but which is actually the reflection of the setting sun upon the slimy scurry left by the slithering serpent that leads downward to the pit.
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