Friday 13 February 2009

Background

This section begins with the story of the serpent. Snakes were acommon feature of ancient Hebrew literature: they look naked andvulnerable, they can renew their skin symbolising renewal and theyare phallic (hence the link with sexuality in this chapter). Andmany snakes were poisonous too so they were feared.

These verses indicate the beginnings of what we call 'fallen'humanity. By this phrase we mean a humanity that was good inGenesis 1 but is now not living as God intended. Adam and Eve havebroken a commandment of God by eating the fruit of the tree oflife. Likewise, the ministries of the prophets living in the 8thcentury BC are characterised by being critical of a community thathas broken the Ten Commandments and failed to live in a covenantrelationship with God. The apostle Paul, many hundreds of yearslater, also reflects on the nature of sin and fallen humanity (egRomans7:7-12).

Knowledge is inherently neither good nor bad. It is how we use ourknowledge that is important. In the Genesis story, knowledge leadsto vulnerability too. When we are very young, we do not realisethat we are going to die and that life as we know it will come toan end. However, even when we do realise this, our knowledge canhelp us live as well as possible but it cannot prevent deathaltogether.

Verse 8 illustrates the intimacy of God. God who created theuniverse is also a part of it. God is shown to be sharing in thelives of humanity. That God walks and talks with and listens to hispeople is also found in some of the Psalms (18:6 and 23:4).

To Ponder

Do stories such as these reduce God's divinityand compromise God's mystery?

How does this story help us understand our worldas it is?

In metaphorical terms, what trees do we eat fromwhose fruit we should not be eating?