Sermon Tone Analysis

[Adam] answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

And [God] said, “Who told you that you were naked?

Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all the livestock

and all the wild animals!

You will crawl on your belly

and you will eat dust

all the days of your life.

And I will put enmity

between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head,

and you will strike his heel.”

To the woman he said,

“I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;

with pain you will give birth to children.

Your desire will be for your husband,

and he will rule over you.”

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will eat of it

all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your brow

you will eat your food

until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

and to dust you will return.”

Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.

He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Satan is identified throughout Scripture as *the serpent*.

For instance, John, writing in the Apocalypse, spoke repeatedly of /that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan/ [e.g.

*Revelation 12:9-15; 20:2*].

Paul, likewise, warned against /the serpent’s cunning/ [*2 Corinthians 11:3*].

The basis for this characterisation of the evil one, besides the fact that this foe of the Faith exhibits serpentine characteristics, is found in the account of the Fall of our first parents.

Read that first verse of the third chapter once again.

/Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”/

From earliest childhood, I should suppose that virtually all Canadians have some familiarity with Adam and Eve, at least in summary fashion.

They know that a snake enticed Eve to sample forbidden fruit (though most Canadians think it was an apple) which in turn led to rebellion against the Creator.

What Canadians don’t always know is that the serpent was more than just a snake.

Snakes don’t normally speak to people.

Should a snake ever address me, I am certain that I would vacate the premises even quicker than my legs would otherwise carry me from the vicinity of that critter.

I must interject that I am not afraid of snakes, it is just that I have little information to convey to them.

Neither have I any particular inclination to listen to whatever information a snake may wish to convey to me.

My mind realises that snakes are actually frightened of me, but my legs have somehow failed to receive that same message.

Obviously, this knowledge should lead us to conclude that in the account before us, this serpent is more than just a snake.

The fact that Eve was not startled assists us in understanding what is going on.

We know that Adam and Eve conversed with God in the garden.

It is apparent that they were used to speaking with Him and it would not be out of line to assume that even conversation with angels would not have been thought an exceptional event.

We also know that the Covering Angel, Lucifer, was in the Garden of Eden [cf.

*Ezekiel 28:13*].

Since sin is the source of death and there was no death until the Fall, we know that the Eden in which this powerful cherub walked was likely the same Eden wherein Adam and Eve resided.

When we read that the serpent /was more crafty than any of the wild animals/, we would naturally conclude that the serpent refers to the father of lies, Satan.

Two options lie open before us.

Either this was actually a snake used by Satan to house his person, or God is referring to the true character of the devil.

Since he is identified as the dragon and the serpent in Scripture, I would assume that God is speaking of his actual character.

Reviewing the account before us, I would not argue with you that this was actually a snake.

It would appear that by this means God is revealing to us the true character of the enemy of souls when he identifies him as the serpent.

We are being introduced to the fallen angel who opposes God and seeks to destroy souls.

Focus on this exceptional verse to discover the source of evil and to witness the destructive power of evil.

The verse is required reading for us so that we may each be forewarned against succumbing to the enticements of the wicked one and so that we will be spared the execution of wrath which must fall on those who buy into the tempter’s lie.

We are not wiser than our first parents, though we do have powerful protection in the strong covert provided through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, though we should be wary of the enemy, we need fear neither his power nor his seductive words.

Explore with me the evidence of the snake in our garden.

*Meet Your Enemy* — The serpent is introduced abruptly.

His appearance is sudden, even startling.

There has been no hint of trouble in the narrative of creation to this point.

Though God had said when surveying the man in his environment that it was not good for him to be alone, He had just as quickly provided a companion who made man complete.

We would now assume that all was *good* in God’s creation.

Though we were informed that all the various animals were present, including those which move along the ground [see *Genesis 1:24, 25*], we have not actually witnessed the presence of a serpent … yet.

/The serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the //Lord// //God had made/.

This is nothing save a statement of fact that God made the serpent..  The words lead us to understand that the snake, and especially the enemy who is described as the serpent, were alike created by God.

This should not be taken to mean that God is responsible for evil nor does it explain the origin of evil.

That explanation will need to come from elsewhere in the Word of God.

The text will state only the origin of human sin and guilt.

Evil springs forth fully developed in this verse, though we cannot begin to appreciate the horror of that evil until we have at last encountered the full effects of its presence.

The ruin of the race and the destruction of intimacy with the Creator await the verses which follow.

We can only anticipate the full bloom of sin with something approaching horror.

Can you readily recognise the face of evil?

Are you so adept that you know wickedness when you encounter it?

How many Christians fall into sin through such seemingly innocuous activities as casting a horoscope?

Is an ouija board actually evil?

Can it really be dangerous to consult tarot cards?

We are under constant assault in the media to accept druidism and shamanism and Wicca as innocent spiritual alternatives.

Dear people, for every individual who finds such diversions to be harmless fun there is another who is mentally deranged through such pursuits or who is tormented by demonic powers admitted to that life through these very practises.

For the most part, Christians are aware that Satan is the father of lies and they know that those who think to use him and his power will themselves be deceived and used by him.

If it is easy to categorise the occult and the weird as evil, what about the world system within which we live?

Though many pastors will be called upon at one time or another to minister to those held in thraldom by demonic powers, evil is far more prevalent then to be restricted to the occult and to worship of that which is clearly satanic.

Evil is seen in the paralysing systems of destructive power in society, in the slanderous world of lies, deceit and defamation of others, which is so prevalent in our decaying culture.