Genesis chapter 2 through 3 tells us how Satan corrupted God’s creation. In these chapters it mentions a talking serpent. We know the serpent is Satan because of Revelation 12:9; 20:2. At this point, God is creating the earth and mankind. We see that God formed the man from the earth and formed the woman from the man’s rib. He creates a beautiful garden and places the couple there.
There are all kinds of trees in the garden, but in the middle are two distinct trees: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:9). I believe these were literal trees that God made. God later commands them not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil because it would lead to their death (Genesis 2:17).
And this is where I see Satan’s work. I believe Satan genetically altered one of the normal trees near the Tree of Life, and it became the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (therefore God named it such). I say this because, why would God make a tree that would kill his children?
God is good and makes all things good. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil wasn’t something good for them, so I don’t believe God created a poisonous tree. God made the tree, but not the new perversion of it. Just like God created Lucifer, but he didn’t create Satan. Lucifer became Satan because he walked away from God.
Therefore, God allowed Satan to alter one of the trees to give a choice to his children. God is all about free will. If there was never an alternative to goodness, humanity would be prisoners. So God, in his love, gives them a choice; and what better choice: life or death. His servant Lucifer chose death, would his children also?
He knew what Satan’s plan was and so he warned his children in advance that one of the trees would bring death. God always warns his children about evil, even if he doesn’t go into detail about it.
God allowed Satan to carry out his plan because he would use it to redeem mankind and ultimately get the glory as the savior of the world.
Genetic modification
Satan’s scheme was simple: corrupt God’s creation. Satan hated God but he could never harm him. Now that God made children in his own image, to bring him glory as once Lucifer did, Lucifer wanted to destroy them.
Satan couldn’t just kill them because they were righteous, and therefore protected, but he knew if he could pervert them, and transform them into something unlike their origin, God would have to destroy them; and this would hurt God.
So he genetically altered a tree with his nature: the sin of pride, the god complex, a nature knowing both good and evil. In eating from it, one would become consumed with darkness just like Satan.
Satan has always perverted God’s creation. In Genesis chapter 6, the angels that followed Satan’s rebellion, took wives of humanity, and birthed hybrid children called Nephilim. Today, evil men are able of alter plants unnaturally increasing their size or making seedless (infertile) varieties.
While humanity walks the earth, we are still apart of. We were made out of it just as those trees. Everything in the earth is connected. Altering the plants will alter the creatures that eat the plants.
If you stay close to the latest food news, you know to avoid GMO foods (Genetically Modified Organisms). These foods were made by God, but men modified them on the genetic level which can cause organ damage, gastrointestinal and immune system disorders, accelerated aging, and infertility if humans continue to consume them.
GMO food produces new toxins, allergens, and carcinogens. These man made crops are nutritionally deficient and cause all kinds of devastation to the surrounding environment—and all for supposedly bigger profits.
So if man is doing all this damage to food with the limited knowledge that he’s received from the Evil One, certainly Lucifer, in his brilliance (being the wisest of them all next to the triune God), could tamper with one of God’s perfect trees, modifying its genetic structure, and causing his very nature to transfer to man through consumption.
Jesus talks of a similar situation through the parable of the sower. A man sowed good seed in his field, but at night, an enemy sowed tares among the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30). I know this example is not the same as genetic manipulation, but it’s still an example of Satan messing with God’s plantation.
God only sows good seed. God only produces good. The enemy sows evil and only produces evil—it’s the same with one of those trees in the Garden of Eden.
Think about why the tree was called the “Knowledge of Good and Evil” and why it would lead to destruction if one ate its fruit; because Satan polluted the tree with his nature. He originally was good, he knew goodness, but when he broke away from God, he became evil, knowing evil. So now he had knowledge of both good and evil. His attempt was to duplicate himself among his enemy’s creation.
The first book of the Bible is named Genesis for a reason. Genesis comes from the word genes as in genetics. Genesis is basically the account of how the genetics of mankind were perverted, laying the foundation for the next generations.
God is good
There is no evil in God (Psalms 92:15; 1 John 1:5), but because he’s omniscient, he knows about evil. Jesus said, a good tree only bears good fruit (in relation to character), and a bad tree, only bad fruit (Matt 7:16-18). So how is it that God is good, but he planted a poisonous tree? Evil can’t come out of an all-righteous god.
Some people will cite Isaiah 45:7 which says, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” If you read the verse in context, it’s saying that God is responsible for allowing both peace and calamity to fall on people. What this means is he’s in control of everything, not that he creates evil. The King James language can be confusing at times, but context and the Holy Spirit helps us understand. Other Bible versions render the word “evil” as “calamity,” “bad times, ” or “disaster.”
When you study the book of Job, you see Satan being the cause of the disasters that fell on Job, but all the while, God was in control and he allowed it; it’s the same with other bad things that fall on people. God allows evil but isn’t the author of evil, Satan is.
We need to stop believing that God made a tree that would kill his children just to give them a choice. No. God planted it, but Satan screwed with it; it’s just that simple. And God used the event as an opportunity to provide a choice and get the glory in the end.
Alternative views
I also want to address the other interpretations of the Genesis account. A popular states the tree was Satan himself and eating of its fruit was sex. So basically, Eve had sex with Satan. But if Eve had intercourse with Satan, so did Adam. Now we got some adultery/homosexuality going on from the beginning of creation! I don’t buy that story. I think it’s creative, but perverted. I’ll stick with a literal tree that was polluted by Lucifer.
Getting them to eat it
Genesis chapter 3 shows us how Satan got the children of God to eat his poisonous, soul altering fruit. Satan starts with a manipulative question to engage Eve. He says:
“Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'” (Genesis 3:1).
Satan knows exactly what God said. Of course they could eat from the trees, if they couldn’t partake of the trees of the garden, they would probably have very little to eat, now wouldn’t they? Beware of people who seemingly misunderstand something that was clearly said. Questions like that could be a setup for something sinister.
Notice he speaks to Eve, and not Adam. Adam would’ve been more resistant to Satan’s tricks being directly made in the image of God. Eve was made out of the rib of Adam and therefore, weaker (1 Peter 3:17). In a marriage relationship, Satan usually goes after the woman first and we’ll see why later. Husbands ought to constantly be in prayer for their wives’ strength.
We see that Eve immediately corrects his seemingly ignorant question:
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 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 3:2-3)
Now, there’s an immediate problem with that statement. First of all, God never said they were not to touch it. Read Genesis 2:16-17 again. It was only eating the fruit that was prohibited.
So, who told Eve not to touch it? It had to be her husband who attached an additional command to reduce temptation. We also know that Eve wasn’t alive when God gave the command, so Adam passed down the warning to his wife after she was formed, and understanding God’s heart, he wanted to protect his wife, and so he added the command, “don’t even touch it.”
Continuing on:
And the serpent said unto the woman, “Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)
We see that Satan accuses God of lying; this is a concept that was never heard of before. Think of it from Eve’s perspective: God is lying to me? God is withholding secret knowledge from me? Satan manipulated Eve into believing that she lacked something and God was behind it.
Satan is always leading mankind away from contentment. Many women today feel that God’s order and provision is not enough for them. Part of the feminist movement is grounded in this lie. Women have a perfectly good role as wife and mother of the home and Satan came along saying:
“You should have more, you’re operating way under your potential. You can be greater than that. You don’t want to be barefoot and pregnant—being some man’s slave do you? Don’t you want to climb the corporate ladder or build your own empire? Wouldn’t that be exciting?! Ditch that degrading man-made role as helpmate and chase your dreams!”
These are no doubt dreams inspired by Satan, leading to the breakdown of so many marriages today. Continuing on, Eve takes the bait:
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat (Genesis 3:6).
Now how did Eve “see” all these things in this particular tree, especially when there were surrounded by trees? What made this tree stand out? Let’s recap what she “saw:”
- She saw that it was good for food (it would nourish her body).
- She saw that it was pleasant to the eyes (visually attractive).
- She saw that it was able to make one wise (be like God).
Satan is a master of projected thought. I believe he did a lot more talking “in the spirit” than in the physical. God today warns us about the enemy’s mind games and gives us tools to protect us:
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4–5)
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. (Ephesians 6:17-18)
Till this day, Satan projects thoughts into our minds. On top of implanted visions, he knows how to make the bait look physically attractive. Along with smooth conversation, he probably had the fruit lighting up like a Christmas tree. And when they bit into it, it was probably extra sweet. And let’s not forget that part of the commercial where it would make one as wise as a god! Who wouldn’t have taken an offer like that!?
God’s warning of death seem to be forgotten and it’s understandable. They never seen anyone die, nor experienced death themselves so it was much easier to ignore the warning. Even today, people don’t believe God will send them to the Lake of Fire for all eternity simply because they’ve never known a place like that.
Just because you’ve never been somewhere doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, or that God won’t make due on his promise. God is not a man that he should lie (Numbers 23:19). Let’s just trust God.
Occult knowledge
Notice, also, what Satan was selling: knowledge of good and evil. Perhaps Satan really believes his own delusion: that knowing good and evil makes someone a god. Now he sells his knowledge in exchange for worship.
The occult (from the Latin word occultus “clandestine, hidden, secret”) means “knowledge of the hidden.” This is what the occult is all about: accessing the forbidden knowledge of Satan. How To Do Good and Evil 101: a class about manipulation and domination of the “uninitiated” masses so one can “feel” like a god; this is what Satan is selling.
Let’s be clear. Satan has knowledge of both evil and good. He knows how to do good too. Most churches, ministries, fraternities, sororities and freemasons perform legitimate good works in their community, but they’re also responsible for great evils behind the scenes. Charitable acts cover up the wickedness in the basement. To all the children of God: you cannot walk in light and in darkness (1 John 1:6-7); do not pursue the occult.
White magic, black magic, witchcraft, voodoo, secret societies and the like are all just Satan teaching people how to use the power of the “dark-side.” The problem with darkness is: light always overcomes it. Just turn on the light in a dark room and watch what happens. Dark power pales in comparison to the Light of God and eventually, the practitioners of evil are destroyed.
What’s ironic about these evil teachings is that it actually makes the student a slave to Satan costing them more than what they bargained for; and what’s worse, Satan hates the very souls of the people he’s educating.
Adam’s failure and the punishments
So, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. What was Adam’s problem? Why didn’t he reject his wife’s offer? Man’s biggest weakness has been his woman. To reject his wife would be rejecting himself; for she was made from him.
This is why Satan deceived Eve first because he knew, once she was corrupted, it would be easier to take down Adam. Husbands must know the tactics of the enemy.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. (Genesis 3:7-10)
Let’s make something clear about Satan: he tells the truth. He doesn’t always lie. In this case, he told a half truth. The truth was: their eyes would be open knowing good and evil. The lie, however, was they wouldn’t die as a result; clearly they aren’t here today. We have to be mindful that even though evil people tell the truth, it’s for the purpose of deception.
As soon as they sinned, they realized it and they felt exposed. Sin is ugly, and when it’s active, it makes you want to cover yourself, and run from the presence of God. But we’ll learn later that a physical covering isn’t adequate to cover transgression against God.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. (Genesis 3:11-13)
Here we see the immediate effects of pride (or Satan’s nature): A failure to fully accept responsibility for one’s sins. Pride/the god complex cannot admit guilt or accept full responsibility for its sins because a god is never wrong. Has the Most High ever admitted to some error he committed? Likewise, a false god cannot admit his/her failures without blaming someone else or minimizing their sin.
Humility would’ve said, “Yes, I ate the fruit. I take full responsibility. Please forgive me.” But pride will always attempt to shift the blame to someone else. We see Adam blames his sin on God and his wife indirectly. He basically said, “If you wouldn’t have given me this woman, I would not have disobeyed you. Yes, I sinned, but it’s your fault God.”
And when Eve is addressed, she blames the serpent; but Eve’s explanation is the most honest because she was genuinely tricked. Adam, however wasn’t, he simply chose to please his wife rather than God.
The serpent’s punishment
And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: (Gen 3:14)
So the penalties are now being handed out, starting with the serpent. First off, I don’t believe serpents could ever talk. This one was used as a conduit to speak to Eve for two reasons:
- If Satan appeared to the couple as himself, it might’ve confused them. They’d be thinking, “Who’s this new guy?” So Satan came as an animal they were already familiar with, and they being naïve, wouldn’t have known serpents can’t talk.
- Satan chose an animal he closely identified with, or which best represented who he was. In Genesis 3:1a it says, “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.” The word “subtle” means crafty, prudent, wise; and we know Lucifer is the wisest of them all next to God. So it was fitting for him to choose an animal like himself.
Reading into the text, the serpent’s appearance would’ve been of what we know as a dragon. In other words: all serpents, or what we call snakes today, used to have arms, legs and wings before God cursed them.
If serpents already moved on their belly’s, God’s curse wouldn’t have made sense. This is substantiated by Satan being also called the Great Dragon in the book of Revelations. And we all know how dragons look. This would’ve been a most beautiful creature as we know snakes come in all kinds of color patterns. The dragon’s beauty reflected Lucifer’s beauty—another reason why Satan chose the serpent as his mouthpiece.
An additional note: I don’t believe serpents/dragons could ever blow fire. This is just a fictitious ability the devil added to his admired creature. Fire is destructive and Satan words from his mouth are destructive. Therefore, dragons blow fire from their mouths. Now we understand the origin of the dragon—a beautiful animal God created whom Satan used as a conduit to corrupt mankind.
Why then would God curse a beautiful animal that was just being used by Satan, and not just that single animal, but its entire species? Two reasons: 1) Satan defiled the serpent when he spoke through it, but more importantly, 2) the entire species was favored by Satan and so God wanted to show Satan what he would do to him eventually.
As Satan identified with a glorious creature that could soar the sky and walk upright, so would he be brought down to the ground having to slither, with not only the absence of wings, but arms and legs. Till this day, the snake is one of the weirdest looking creatures.
Every time Satan looks at his favorite creature, he’s reminded of what he used to be, and what his end will be. Yet Satan loves to fantasize of his former glory and so he inspires tales of the great dragon that God made.
… and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life … (Gen 3:14)
Snakes today kind of eat dust by sampling the soil around them with their tongues. The dirt is taken in and analyzed by their brains to help them smell; but actually eating dust is not what snakes do.
This was a curse referring to Satan and it wasn’t meant to be literal. “Eating dust”, or “biting the dust” is an idiom for defeat. When one racer outruns another, or when one fighter beats another in combat, the looser is considered eating the dust. The dust is either in their face, or they lay with their face to the dusty ground due to loss.
God was basically saying that Satan would keep being defeated all his life. And this is what happens in the lives of the children of God; we continue to defeat the devil by rejecting his temptation and taking authority over him. Jesus said, “I have given you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).
When Lucifer rebelled along with one third of the angels, a war broke out in heaven, he and his followers were defeated in a most violent eviction (Rev 12:7-9). Satan, of course, was defeated by Jesus on the cross at Calvary (Hebrews 2:14). So Satan has a track record of losing; we must keep this in mind. Satan is the biggest loser of them all; we must keep this in mind. And those who follow him will lose as well; we must keep this in mind.
Then God continues with a prophecy:
and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (Gen 3:15)
We know the seed (or offspring) of the woman refers to Christ, the only begotten son of God. The woman is the twelve tribes of Israel in which Jesus Christ was born from (Revelation 12:17). The remnant of her seed is the Church—all the believers born of the Spirit of God.
The seed of Satan are those who walk in his nature—everyone who practices sin. We also know that the bruising of the head of the serpent (or Satan) is his defeat at the Cross, whereas the bruise of the heel of the woman’s child is referring to the Messiah dying temporarily to bring salvation to the world (Hebrews 2:14).
The woman’s punishment
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. (Gen 3:16)
Three things resulted from the woman’s disobedience:
1. The pain of child conception and birthing would be increased; indicating that pain existed prior to the fall even in the perfect Garden of Eden.
2. Her desire would be for her husband; this doesn’t mean she didn’t desire her husband prior to the fall or she would desire him more afterward. The word “desire” means to dominate and control her husband. This same word is used later in a dialog between Cain and God in relation to sin’s attempt to rule Cain (Genesis 4:7).
After the woman ate the forbidden fruit, the nature of Satan transformed her soul. Remember, Satan is contrary to God. Likewise, the role of woman was perverted with a desire to dominate and lead her husband instead of the original established role of submission and helper; this is why God says:
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. (Ephesians 5:22-24)
3. But when God says: “he shall rule over thee.” He’s basically reestablished his order for husbands. The Lord was saying, “Eve, even though you want to rule your husband, he will rule you.” Men have a natural desire to lead their homes—it’s their God-given position; and this is where most of the conflict in marriages comes from. The wife is trying to rule her husband, while the man is trying to maintain his position as head of the household. In this day and age, many men have given up the battle, but they must regain their position if they want to please God.
The man’s punishment
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Gen 3:17-19)
Why was the ground cursed? It had nothing to do with Adam’s sin. Adam was formed from the ground and therefore connected to it. Because of Adam’s sin, the ground he was made from was affected also. This was simple cause and effect. The ground became disorderly because Adam became disorderly—obeying his wife instead of God.
Let’s look at it another way. Prior to The Fall, it was easy for God to work with man, but afterwards, he became hard to work with—stubborn. Therefore the ground became hard to work with and stubborn; bringing about thorns and thistles.
Those thorns and thistles also relate directly to how Adam and his offspring treat God—they prick his hands when he’s trying to grow them! How many times have you pricked God with your sin as he was trying to grow you? Therefore, the difficult labor of farming is a reminder of our mistreatment of God.
Everything in God’s earthly creation is connected into one big ecosystem. When one part gets out of order, others will be affected. Sin is disorderly and it brings disorder to all earthly life; this is why some children are born with abnormalities and why humanity grows old and dies. The scripture says:
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Romans 5:12)
Continuing on, God helps his fallen children:
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them (Genesis 3:21).
Tree covering wasn’t sufficient to cover their naked bodies, and more importantly, their sins. There needed to be a blood sacrifice (Leviticus 17:11). Therefore, God sacrificed an animal and clothed them with the skins of the animal. He would later sacrifice his Son for the whole world to wash away their sins—not just cover them up (Hebrews 10:4; Hebrews 19:14).
22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
I want to state, again, “Satan tells the truth:” Adam and Eve did know good and evil and became like God. The problem with them knowing evil was they weren’t designed to handle evil, just like Satan wasn’t designed to handle evil. They were only designed for good.
Satan stumbled upon evil after he disconnected from God and was immediately consumed by it. While Satan transferred his nature into Adam and Eve, because they were made in the image of God, their full corruption wasn’t instant.
Each individual slowly grows more wicked over time due to choices; this is why God drove them away from the Tree of Life. With access to eternal life, they would live forever in their fallen state growing worse and worse until they reached the degree of Satan himself. Now, just think about that: thousands upon thousands of satans! God would not allow that. One devil is enough!
So to recap: God creates humankind to replace Lucifer. Satan hates God and genetically modifies one of God’s trees to poison his children with his perverted nature. He tricks them into eating it and they become like him knowing good and evil. God knew Satan’s plan ahead of time and allowed it, because he had a counter plan, which would teach the whole universe about evil, his order, his glory and his goodness.
Spiritual death
God said, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17).
It’s clear God wasn’t talking about physical death because they still were around for several centuries after they were kicked out of the Garden. God was speaking of the immediate spiritual death which was losing one’s spiritual connection with God (Ephesians 4:18).
Next chapter: The Sin Nature
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