Transcript
ADAM, EVE & THE SERPENT
Q&A 04: Was Adam Expected to Outsmart the Serpent?
QUESTION
Was Adam really expected to outsmart a wise and cunning Serpent?
RESPONSE
Fact Three: Adam was neither required nor expected to outsmart the cunning Serpent. Adam was required to keep God's commandment. It is as simple as that. What business did Adam have with the Serpent? If there was anyone he should have been wiser than, it was the woman whom he already knew better than the Serpent. How could Adam tell the God who had given him everything that he was more loyal to the woman than to God? God gave Adam dominion, life, power, Paradise, enjoyment, and practically every good thing on a platter of gold without Adam breaking a sweat. Yet the only thing the woman gave him in that situation was one forbidden fruit or perhaps half of one. Because of that tiny forbidden gift, should Adam throw away his senses, his glorious destiny, and his loyalty to God merely to avoid missing what she offered? What kind of excuse or justification is that? Apart from the Devil and his team, which creature has demonstrated ingratitude like humanity? The instruction was simple: 'Do not eat this, for you shall surely die in the day you eat it.' What does that have to do with being smarter than the Serpent, knowing that one is naked, being ignorant, or remaining childlike? Adam did not need to be smarter than the Serpent. He only needed to be more grateful and loyal to God than to the Serpent. That was all Adam needed to overcome the Serpent and remain king in Paradise.