“Shien” Ransel F. Villaruel: Holiness of Heart & Life Movement 2010 (H.H.L.M.

-’10) In Genesis 1 and 2 is the origin of the physical universe as we know it. In Genesis 3 is the
“Be ye holy, for I am holy,” says the Lord, (Leviticus 19:2; 1 Peter 1:16, Bible) origin of evil. Turn in your Bible to Genesis Chapter 3. I want to read this passage just so it's
• Pangasinan • Metro Manila • Cavite • Laguna • Everywhere • set in your mind. After the six days of God's creation, He rested. "Everything he had made,"
e-mail address: [email protected] according to Chapter 1 Verse 31, "was very good," and God rested. He had created a perfect
universe. But we live in anything but a perfect universe, and there's a reason. When you come
CHRISTIAN METHODICAL CAMARADERIE (C.M.C.) to Chapter 3, a dramatic scene takes place. And this is the reason why the world is the way it is.
2
A CELL GROUP BIBLE STUDY OF CG-squared (C.G. ) "Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
“ Co alit io n o f Go sp e l- ce nt e red Ce ll Gro ups ” And he said to the woman, 'Indeed, has God said, You shall not eat from any tree of the
______________________________________________________________________ garden?' And the woman said to the serpent, 'From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may
eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall
P LAIN T R UTH F OR P LAIN P EOP LE not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.' And the serpent said to the woman, 'You surely shall
“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will
-The Lord Jesus Christ, from the Bible (John 8:32) be like God, knowing good and evil.' "Now when the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she
To my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus, took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes
of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves
I am sending you this copy of our series of studies in the first 4 chapters together and made themselves loin coverings." The true diagnosis of the human condition stems
of the Book of Genesis in the Bible, our focus is on “Origins” and here is the # 24 from that event. God, the creator of the universe, is all good, and only good. And his original
Sermon of the Theologian Pastor John F. MacArthur. He received his B.A. from Los creation was all good and only good. The goodness of his creation was a reflection of the
Angeles Pacific College, M.Div. from Talbot Theological Seminary, Litt.D. from Grace goodness of his nature.
Graduate School and D.D. from Talbot Theological Seminary. From 1964 to 1966 he
served as an associate pastor at Calvary Bible Church, and 1966 to 1969 as a faculty
representative for Talbot Theological Seminary. In 1969 he became pastor of Grace Now let me get a little philosophical with you here. God is not the author of evil. If God created
Community Church, Sun Valley, California. He is the teachers on the radio program evil, then God would be both good and evil. And if God were both good and evil, there would
Grace to You. He has authored, or edited, over 30 books, including fifteen volumes of be no hope for the ultimate triumph of good, which the Bible promises. If God were himself
the MacArthur New Testament Commentary, and scores of articles and study guides, evil, he could not, therefore, triumph over evil, so good could not triumph. If God were the
including the MacArthur Study Bible. He has served on the board of trustees of the
source of evil, he would have to be evil himself. And if He were evil himself, then there could
Moody Bible Institute, as adjunct faculty member at Talbot Theological Seminary, and
Dallas Theological Seminary. In 1985 he was named President of The Master's be no basis for salvation, for God could not save us from evil if evil was in His nature. So the
College, and, founded, in 1986 The Master's Seminary, where he serves as President Biblical revelation of the original goodness of creation protects the goodness of God. And it
and Professor of Pastoral Studies. May you read it thoughtfully. Amen. makes the source of evil outside of God. Only if the source of evil is outside of God can God
conquer evil and can God save sinners from evil. And just as a footnote to that; if God used any
_________________________________________________________________ kind of evolution to create, evolution is dependent on decay and death, all effects or reflections
of evil. So if God used any kind of evolution to create, then God authored evil; He created
____________________________________________________________________ decay and He created death. And if God used any form of evolution, then His creation was not
___________________________________________________________. all good; it was not perfect when he created it, and it is what it is now because of decay and
death, which He must have used in his creation, which are evidences of evil, then God must
himself be evil. But God is not evil. God is all good and only good.

The question then is: Where did evil come from? And the answer to that is that we only
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL know what we know from the Bible. It is really useless to speculate about that.

Sermon # 24 on Genesis Origins, by Nobody would argue that there is evil in the world. Everybody admits that. Not everybody
John F. MacArthur admits that we are totally depraved and that we have original sin in us. Not everybody admits
1939-present that we are evil and wretched to the core. But everyone admits there is evil in the world to some
degree. And in fact, the problem of evil in the world has really occupied the best minds of
Our world is certainly preoccupied where the issue of origins. We hear about it, read about it, history. Certainly, we would agree in our own country, in the history of our own country there's
all the time. Almost every edition of the newspaper, every edition of the major magazines of never been a greater brain, a greater mental capacity, than that enjoyed by Albert Einstein. Not
our nation discusses origins; how things came to be the way they are, either in terms of the just the greatest scientist of this century, but maybe the greatest intellect we've known in
physical universe or in terms of the spiritual universe, in terms of human sociology or human modern times. And for Albert Einstein, just for an illustration, the great scientist that he was,
anatomy. To know the truth about origins, we have to go back to the Bible. God has given us the great mind that he was, the toughest intellectual barrier to the Christian faith was not the
the story of origins in the book of Genesis. question of God creating the world. Simple reason, the reason of cause and effect, was not hard
for Einstein to grasp. He saw that the universe was an effect and it had to have a source. He saw
that the universe was designed, and it had to have a designer. He saw that it was ordered, and it
had to come out of an orderly mind. And so Einstein concluded that there must be a mind
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behind the universe. He rejected the idea of matter simply bumping around endlessly in space Or you could take another view. You could take the view that suffering and evil and death don't
until, by random, it formed itself into the universe that now exists. As he put it, quote: "The really exist. God is good and, therefore, everything is good. You just think it's not good. That is
universe reveals an intelligence of such superiority that it overshadows all human intelligence." to say that evil is an illusion; suffering is an illusion, and death is an illusion. You say who in
No. Einstein was not stumped by God as a creator. the world believes that? Christian Science believes that. Christian Science, folks, is not
Christian or scientific. It's like Grape Nuts. Did you ever eat that? It is not grapes or nuts.
What really stymied Einstein was something far tougher than the doctrine of creation. It was Christian Science is neither Christian nor scientific. It is misnamed. By the way, Hindus also
the problem of evil and suffering. He knew there had to be a designer. He agonized over the say the entire universe is an illusion. So you can take some kind of esoteric, mystical approach
character of that designer. How could God be good, and yet allow terrible things to happen to to the reality of evil and agree with those people.
people? Einstein couldn't resolve the problem of evil and suffering with a good God, and so he
turned completely away from the God of the Bible, the God he had been raised in Judaism to Fourthly, you could say God is beyond good and evil. God is transcendent and he cannot be
believe in. What really tripped up Einstein was that he was a determinist; that is, he viewed defined by any human concept. That gets very close to Einstein's perspective; that God doesn't
human beings as complicated machines. He saw them doing simply what they were even dabble in this stuff down here; he's way beyond that. Maybe the God of the deists; he is
programmed to do by natural, irresistible forces. In fact, Einstein concluded that human beings the God who winds it all up, but is unmoved, untouched by any of it.
were like "wind-up toys." You wind them up, and they do what they're manufactured to do. "If
that is so," he concluded, "... there can be no such thing as morality. There can be no such thing Or, you could take the view that is rising in popularity today that God has limited power. This
as right or wrong. There can be no such thing as sin. There can be no such thing as guilt. If a is a new theology that is emerging very rapidly and...it's hard to believe this, but within the
person's actions are determined, if he is just a wind-up toy wound up by a cosmic mind to do framework of evangelical Christianity. And this is called process theology. This is the idea that
what it was designed for him to do, then he cannot be responsible for what he does before God. God is in process; that God is trying to get where he wants to get, just like we're trying to get
"He," said Einstein, "is no more responsible for what he does than a stone is responsible for where we want to get; that bad things happen because God can't stop them. This is the
where it goes when someone throws it." Who is responsible? Well, "God has to be struggling God of Rabbi Cushner, who wrote 'When Bad Things Happen to Good People.'
responsible," Einstein concluded. "But if God is responsible, then he cannot be a good God, or Remember that famous book? Well, Rabbi Cushner's God was a God who hadn't arrived at
he's responsible for evil. And if God is responsible, the God of Judaism or the God of being what he really wanted to be; he'd like to be a fully good God and a fully sovereign God
Christianity, then he makes us do bad things, as well as good. "And if," Einstein said, "God was and have absolute control over everything, but he wasn't quite there yet. He was in process.
like this, he would be constantly passing judgment on himself as evil." That has now invaded evangelicalism. And we now have quote unquote "evangelical scholars"
advocating this about God; that God doesn't know...I just read through some material put out
Well, he couldn't accept that; could not accept that God could be both good and evil. And so he from an evangelical seminary from a man who was saying that God doesn't know what's going
determined that there was no personal God at all. And he rejected the God of Judaism, and he to happen in the future. The reason he doesn't know what's going to happen is because nothing
rejected the God of Christianity, rejected the God of the Bible. And he concluded that God has happened, and you can't know nothing. And he gets all caught up in the machinations of
exists as an impersonal cosmic mind; simply a rational force that gave the world its rational that kind of reasoning.
structure. Those of you who have studied philosophy would conclude that he believed in
Spinoza's god. And Einstein's premise that human beings were just robots was based upon the So you either believe that God isn't God; there's just a cosmic power out there; you believe that
fact that an impersonal, rational mind created those robots. But he could not be a personal God God doesn't exist at all, and it's all just nobody times nothing equals everything. Or you believe
with any personal nature. Einstein was wrong. And as I told you a few weeks ago when I was that suffering, sin and death don't really exist; they're just an illusion. Or you believe that God
talking about Einstein in another context, he never got it. He didn't even come to the place so transcends all of that stuff that he's unaffected by it and, therefore, you protect him from
where he fully understood God as the force in creation. That's why he was never satisfied, and responsibility for evil. Or you believe that God is in process, and that's the new and popular
died never having really identified the true power in the universe. But Einstein was wrong view; that God really has good desires, but he really is not sovereign enough to get where he
about God. God is a personal God. And God is not responsible for evil. And the problem with wants to get as soon as he would like to get there.
Einstein is he wouldn't believe his own scriptures, the scriptures of Judaism.
One other view you can throw in the mix is that just plain old God made evil. And there are
Now when it comes to the origin of evil, you have several options. And these are the common people who teach that. I was reading some of it this week; that God made evil. He created evil
options. You can take Einstein's option, first of all, that there is a cosmic power, unknowable, for good purposes. He wanted to...to effect some good purposes, and he needed to use evil to do
impersonal, some kind of rational power out there with no personality, no relationship, no it, so he created evil for good purposes. None of those is true; none of them. In spite of what
ability to connect to us, but some cosmic, eternal power, rational power that launched Einstein thought, God is personal and God is relational, and God is good. God does exist. So
everything in our universe. You can take that view. He is not personal; he cannot know or be does sin, and so does suffering, and so does death. And only a fool sees that as an illusion. God
known. is not beyond good and evil. He is not so transcendent that He is not fully cognizant of good
and evil and deals with both. God does not have limited powers, so that He can't do what he
Or you can take a second view. You can take the view that God does not even exist. That is the wants and He's like the rest of us, struggling to get somewhere, but he's not there yet. And
view of the intellectual atheist who says no, there is no force, there is no power, there is no finally, God did not create evil.
rational mind, there's absolutely nothing there. And reality made itself. And since there is no
God, there is no evil and there is no good. In reality, those are only subjective determinations Let me put it to you simply: God is not responsible for evil. His creatures are. God is not
that human beings invent. But there is no true good or evil. responsible for evil. His creatures are. Everything...listen to this carefully...that God created
was "very" what? "Good." Everything. This is affirmed throughout the scripture. In Habakkuk

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Chapter 1: "God is of purer eyes than to" approve evil or "behold evil. He cannot look on I've taken you as deep as I can go. There's nowhere else to go. That's all we know. Beyond that,
wickedness." Habakkuk Chapter 1, Verse 13. 1st Corinthians 14:33 says: "God is not the author we operate in faith. We do know some things. We know God is holy, right? We know he is too
of confusion." Confusion is a product of sin. 1st John 1:5 says: "God is light, and in Him is no pure to look on iniquity; can't tolerate evil. We know He "tempts no man," neither is tempted
darkness at all." James 1:13 says: "God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts He any by any man. We know he is "Holy, holy, holy," all the things we went through. "No evil dwells
man." 1st John 2:16 says: "All that is in the world," all evil categorically, "the lust of the flesh, in Him." "He is all light and no darkness." We know that. We believe that. God is not the
the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father." Psalm 5:4: "You are not a God who author of confusion. He is not the source of sin. We know that. We believe that. Sin comes into
has pleasure in wickedness; neither will evil dwell with You." Psalm 5:4. In fact, on a positive existence when the standard of moral perfection is not met, and that is an act based upon
note, Isaiah 6, the antiphonal cry of the angels was that God was "Holy, holy, holy." We see a intellect, reason and choice made by his creatures.
glimpse of that, of course, when Jesus came into the world; God in human flesh. He was holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. God is not evil. God does not do evil. He cannot be Now the question then comes up: Why? Why would God allow sin? Well, come on, now. I...I
tempted to do evil. He never tempts anybody else to do evil. God is not responsible for evil. can only speculate. There's no specific statement. But I think you can make a fairly reasonable
speculation beyond which I cannot go, and don't find any value in attempting to go. And it is
The source of evil, the source of sin, is outside God. When God created angels and God created this: What did sin...what did sin coming into the world bring about? Well, it brought about, I
humans, he gave them intelligence. He gave them reason, and he gave them choice. And there would say, three things. And these are the three reasons why I believe God allowed evil.
is a sequence. I put those words in that order for a purpose. Intelligence gave them the ability to
understand things. Reason gave them the ability to process that understanding toward behavior. Number one, it brought about the salvation of sinners, right? God had to allow sin. God had to
And choice gave them the freedom to determine that behavior. Intelligence, reason, and choice. decree sin in the plan, though never the author of it, in order that he might save sinners. Well,
Bottom line: With what they knew, and with the ability they had to process that information, why did God want to save sinners? To put on display attributes that otherwise never would
they would be brought to a choice. And whether angels or men, they would have the choice have been manifest, right? How is God going to show grace if there aren't any sinners? How is
either to obey God or not to obey God. God going to show mercy if there aren't any sinners? That was a part of God's nature that God
wanted to display for his own glory throughout all eternity. So God provided a means in which
Listen to this: To disobey God was to initiate evil. Evil is not the presence of something. Evil is he could demonstrate grace and demonstrate mercy. He also wanted to show love; love that is
the absence of righteousness. You can't create evil, because evil doesn't exist as a created entity. so far-reaching that it can reach even his own enemies who hate him. How's He going to show
It doesn't exist as a created reality. Evil is a negative. Evil is the absence of perfection. It's the that if he doesn't have any enemies? So God allows evil in order that He might demonstrate
absence of holiness. It's the absence of goodness. It's the absence of righteousness. Evil became grace and mercy and forgiveness and salvation.
a reality only when creatures chose to disobey. Evil came into existence initially then in the fall
of angels. And then next, in the fall of Adam and Eve. Secondly, He allows evil in order that He might display his wrath; in order that he might put his
wrath on display, his anger on display, his judgment on display. How would God ever reveal
Just put it this way in your mind. Evil is not a created thing. Evil is not a substance. Evil is not that part of His true and eternal nature if there were not an opportunity to judge sinners? And so
an entity. Evil is not a being. Evil is not a force. Evil is not some floating spirit. Evil is a lack of all you can do is look at redemptive history, and you see the salvation of sinners and the
moral perfection. God created absolute perfection. Wherever a lack of that exists, sin exists. damnation of sinners, and that is what goes on. And you see, ultimately, a place prepared for
And that cannot exist in the nature of God or in anything that God makes. Evil comes into those who were damned and a place prepared for those who were saved. And you must
existence when God's creatures fall short of the standard of moral perfection. conclude then that the eternal purpose of God was to save some and judge some in order that he
might demonstrate both his grace and his wrath.
Now, let me take it a step further. God did not create evil. He did not author evil. He did not
make evil. But listen carefully, very important: God did decree to use evil as a part of his And then I'd like to throw a third thought in there. I believe that God allowed sin in order that
eternal plan, okay? He will not be culpable for it. He did not bring it into existence. That would he might forever destroy it. As long as His creatures have any measure of freedom, as long as
be impossible because God is good, all good and only good. Therefore, whatever comes out of his creatures have intelligence; that is, they can know and reason; that is, they can process that
Him is all good and only good. God can, therefore, produce only good. And what is evil but the knowledge toward behavior and choice; that is, they can choose what to do. As long as they
absence of that good, which is a choice made by the reasonings based upon the information have that capacity, there is a potential for them to fall short of the standard, right? To make the
revealed to his creatures? But, God was not caught off guard. In fact, God decreed that evil wrong choice.
would be part of his plan. He is not the creator of evil, and He is not the cause of evil. He did
not bring evil into existence in a cosmic sense, and he did not and does not bring evil into Well, it didn't take long for them to do it. We don't know how long it was before Lucifer made
existence in a personal sense. He is not the cause of sin, nor is he the cause of sins in the lives the wrong choice before God. We don't know how long it was even in the garden before Adam
of people. But he does use it for his purposes. And that's why in Isaiah 45:7...just write this and Eve made the wrong choice, but it was certainly before they had had any children. And
down; you may run across it. It says God creates "calamity." Some older translations say He they had their children probably around the age of a hundred or a little more. So there is choice,
"creates evil." That is a really poor translation, and not true. God does create "calamity." And if and the potential of a wrong choice is there. A measure of freedom is given to the creatures by
you read the context of Isaiah 45:7, it is clear that judgment is the issue. God does not create which they can choose to honor God, by which they can choose to dishonor Him. As long as
evil, but God does bring judgment on evil, creating therefore the calamity by which evil is that is there, then the reality, the potential reality of evil exists when the wrong choice is made.
judged. Now, listen carefully: Scripture written by God always assigns the guilt and
responsibility for all sin to creatures; never to God. Never to God. Folks, that's all we know.
Okay? And I believe that once the wrong choice is made, then God goes into action. And one, He can
demonstrate his grace in salvation; two, He can demonstrate his wrath in judgment; and three,
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He can then finally destroy evil. It's almost as if God wanted evil to come to the surface so that Well, here we meet a serpent. "Nachash" in Hebrew, and it's a name for reptiles. We don't
he could excise it. That's what's going to happen when the whole of redemptive history is know what this reptile was like. I think most people assume that this animal was a slithering
complete; when all the saved are saved, and all the lost are cast into the lake of fire, then death snake. You see little pictures of a snake wound around a tree or hanging off a branch or
and hell are thrown into the lake of fire. What does that mean? No more death, no more hell, no whatever, slithering up, and kind of propped up like a cobra. We don't really know that that's
more judgment. Why? Because there won't be any more sin. And when you go into heaven, the case. You would notice later in Chapter 3 Verse 14 that part of the curse on this serpent was
there's nothing there that smacks of a sinful world, right? There's no more sorrow, no more that he was going to go on his belly and eat dust. So if that was the curse, we can assume that at
sadness, no more sin, no more dying, no more death. this particular time when the serpent first appears in the garden, he's not slithering around on
his belly eating dirt yet. That was part of the curse.
So I think God decreed evil within his plan, without creating it, for those three reasons: To save
sinners, to judge sinners, and to once and for all and forever destroy evil. It was always So in some measure, this appears as an upright animal. The word "nachash" in Hebrew relates
potentiated. As long as it was possible, it would need to come to the surface so God could to the verb to hiss, which is associated with the sounds that reptiles make. There's another Old
excise it. Now, listen: Based upon that explanation....and I know that sounds simple to you, but Testament word used to speak of reptiles, "tannin." They are used interchangeably. There's a
it's taken me a long time to clarify in my own mind through the years. I mean in recent years section of Exodus, Chapter 7 Verses 9 to 15, where Moses is interacting with the magicians at
I've certainly understood it. But as a young man, you grapple with a lot of that. Pharaoh's court. Do you remember that? And they throw down their sticks and they become
"tannin." But Moses' stick becomes a serpent called "nachash." So from that text we could
Summing it up, there is no external cause of sin, okay, outside the creature. There's no force conclude that they're used interchangeably, although "tannin" is the word that appears for
floating out there that God created. It is the absence of perfection. There is no deterministic dragon, or sea monster. "Nachash" then is some kind of reptile, some kind of reptile like
cause and effect; that is to say, some fatalism. It's just choice. Within God's decree, he allowed "tannin." Could be a snake, of course, after the curse, after...after that, and even after the flood.
for that choice, knew those choices would be made the way they were made, planned that into We don't know what form reptiles took. We don't know what reptiles got on the ark and
the decree in order to display both his grace, his wrath, and to put a final and eternal end to sin. therefore got off, and what other ones were destroyed. There was some kind of reptile; some
kind of dragon, some kind of serpent. When you come into the New Testament, very
interestingly, Satan is called in Revelation 12....we'll look at it later....Revelation 12, Revelation
But always...now, mark this: The one who chose evil was the source of it. In the case of 20...he's called the "serpent" and the "dragon" both. So in Hebrew he would be called the
Lucifer, he was the source of evil initially in the angelic realm. And as we will see, he got a "nachash" and the "tannin." So sometimes, it's a dragon; sometimes, it's a serpent.
third of the other angels to get along with him and join. Now since angels don't procreate,
Lucifer didn't sin and pass on sin, because angels don't marry or not given in marriage, as Jesus
said. They don't procreate. They were all created at one time. But when Satan made a bad So we have to conclude: We don't know what it was. This was some kind of reptile/dragon;
choice, he managed to seduce a third of the rest of the angels. There are 10,000 times 10,000 something that maybe we would....maybe you feel comfortable calling it a raptor, if you know
and thousands of thousands, so you can multiply all of that, and you're probably not there yet. what that means, some kind of dinosaur-type creature. That's really all we know about the
So there are twice as many holy angels as demons, since one-third fell, two-thirds didn't. But creature. But the serpent is compared to other animals. Look at Verse 1. It was "More crafty
they fell by choice. And we'll see that choice when we get into the prophets. The same than any beast of the field," which indicates that this animal belongs in the animal kingdom.
happened with Adam and Eve, only it had a different effect. With angels, they all sinned their This isn't some singular kind of creation. This isn't just some unique animal. This is part of
own sin, and nobody's sin passed to anybody else, because they don't procreate. But in the case what God made back in Chapter 1 Verses 24 to 28, referred to again in Chapter 2 Verses 19 and
of Adam and Eve, when Adam and Eve made the wrong choice, all humanity went with them, 20; all the various beasts of the field that God made. This is one of them. This is an actual,
because we all come out of the loins of Adam and Eve. physical animal. This is a real animal. But it wouldn't be an animal that we would know. It's a
pre-curse reptile. Whatever this animal was, it wound up on its belly eating dirt after the curse.
So, some kind of a talking reptile, higher and different than we might suppose a snake to be.
So the source of evil is outside of God. The source of evil is the creature. Now let's go back to
Genesis Chapter 3. At least we could cover the first three words maybe -- maybe in part. Not --
this is a big subject, serpent, a big subject. "Now the serpent ..." We'll stop at that point, "Now Now this is not just like any other reptile, because this one talks. This one talks. And I read a
the serpent." Reminds me when I was teaching Romans, and I went to start the book of commentator who said, you know, there may have been a lot of talking animals in the garden.
Romans. And my first message, I said let's read our text. First word in Romans, "Paul." And I And I thought: What? That isn't in the Bible. He went on for like three paragraphs. There's
say okay, let's stop there. And we spent I don't know how long talking about Paul. Well, this is nothing in the Bible about that. He's got a Dr. Doolittle complex or something. Nothing in the
kind of like that. You can't just read "serpent" and go on. Bible about talking animals. They brought up well, what about Balaam's ass? Well, Balaam's
ass never said a word until God spoke through him on one occasion. No, there aren't talking
animals in the garden. But there are wonders in the garden. And I think Adam and Eve are still
What is this serpent? What is this? You're in the garden; everything is good; all kinds of discovering the wonders. And so Eve doesn't appear...we don't have any real information about
creatures are there that had been made by God. There are animals of various kinds. There are it...but she doesn't appear to be overly shocked when this reptile walks up and starts a
birds and cattle, and there are creeping kind of animals, that is, animals that walk low to the conversation. But there's something different about this particular serpent, because he said to
ground. Doesn't mean they slither; it just means that they are low to the ground. It could be the woman: "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'"? This...this
animals with short legs, as I pointed out. It could be insects and so forth. There are those that particular animal knows about God. This particular animal has a personality. This particular
are taller, and there are those that are up in the sky, namely birds, and there are those that are in animal speaks with intelligence. This particular animal has a devious, malevolent, evil mind.
the water. And God made all of those creatures.
Let me tell you, people: This is not a fable. Nothing in here says let me tell you...let me make
up a story to illustrate how sin came. It doesn't say that. This is not a fable. This is not a legend
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with a moral. There is no moral. And if this is a fable, then how do you curse a fable in Verse This personality had more natural knowledge; he knew about the prohibition. He knew that
14? God cursed the serpent. This is not a fable. This is not a legend. This is not a parable. God had said don't eat of that tree. He claimed not only to know what God said, he
People say it's a parable with a moral. What's the moral? There's no moral. Jewish Rabbis said claimed...listen...to know more than Eve. He claims to know more than Eve does. In Verse 4:
-- and I read several of these...said that the serpent wasn't really talking to Eve; but the writer, "The serpent said to the woman, 'You surely shall not die.'" I know more than you. You think
Moses, uses a serpent as a symbol of evil impulses rising in Eve's heart. Really? So this is just a you're doing to die? Nah, I know more than you. He claims to know more than Eve knows. His
sort of a symbolic way to refer to stuff that was going on in Eve's mind. Really? Then why did thoughts are morally wretched. Snakes don't have moral thoughts; reptiles don't have moral
God curse the reptile? And where does it say that? thoughts. They can't make moral judgments. This is a creature who is evil in purpose, evil
opposed to God, opposed to man. And he offers to Eve the promise of unequalled blessing. I
Why can't people just take the Bible for what it says? She was in the garden one day, and a mean, what could be better than being like God? But he knows that when you seek to be like
reptile walked up to her and said, hi. Do you really think God said you shall not eat from the God, the end result is shame, degradation, misery and damnation. He knows already, because
trees of the garden? And he was so compelling, she didn't even seem to step back. She just that's what he's experienced. The fact that he was cursed indicates that he was a responsible,
entered right into the conversation. And said well, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we moral being.
may eat," and they were off in conversation. Do you know what I think? I think that's exactly
the way it happened. And if it didn't happen that way, then you can't trust God's word. But don't Now, who was this creature? Who was this? Go all the way to the end of the Bible. This is why
come and tell me you believe God's word, but you don't believe that. you have to take the whole counsel of God, because you really don't get the clear identification
of him. Nothing is said, by the way, in Genesis 3 about Satan. Satan's never mentioned in
Now this creature wasn't just like any creature. Notice back in Verse 1: "The serpent was more Genesis 3. So we go to the end of the Bible to find out who he is. Book of Revelation Verse 9
crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." Now, you've got a reptile. Chapter 12. Revelation Chapter 12 Verse 9. There's a lot here, but we'll just jump to Verse 9 for
We're not talking about...this isn't like snakes are sneakier than other animals. No, no. Snakes time's sake. And here you find again these two terms. They're sort of borrowing from the
aren't any sneakier than any other animals. "Crafty" means subtle, cunning, intelligent, wise. I Hebrew, where in the Old Testament he's called "nachash" and "tannin," which is both a
don't think snakes are that smart. Did you ever meet a smart snake, smart reptile? Subtle? serpent, a reptile and dragon. And Verse 9: "And the great dragon was thrown down, the
Cunning? They're no more subtle or cunning than any other predator, any other animal that serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan." Now, there is a very clear designation.
hunts. So "crafty," cunning, is not a reference to the characteristic of snakes. He's not
comparing snakes to cows, for example, or snakes to lions, or snakes to anything else. He is Who is that "serpent"? Who is that "dragon"? Who is that "original one of old" who deceives
comparing this reptile to all other animals, and saying this one is more wise than any other the whole world? It is none other than "the devil and Satan." There he is clearly identified. Now
animal. Snakes, in fact, are wonderful creatures. I mean they're really amazing creatures. And I'll turn to the 20th Chapter of Revelation, and Verse 2. Verse 1 actually can start it. "An
read Proverbs Chapter 30 Verses 18 and 19, and you have the wonder of a snake on a rock. But angel"...this is the time of the Millennial kingdom after Christ's second coming and judgment
this is a crafty, subtle, malevolent, evil, wicked, individual animal, because it is being used by a described in Chapter 19: "An angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and
superhuman intelligence to lead Eve and Adam into a choice for evil; a choice that this a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil
personality already made. and Satan." So really there's no problem in identifying who this is, because he is identified at
the very end when it's time for God to take over and put an end to his enterprises. He is the
And listen carefully: This personality inside that animal knew the effect of the choice Adam serpent or the dragon. And I think the combination of those two words being used in the New
and Eve were going to make. Adam and Eve had no clue. They had no idea what would happen Testament, along with the two Hebrew words being used somewhat interchangeably, indicate
when they made this choice. You see, when Lucifer first made that choice, he made it because that you don't just have a snake here. You have some kind of reptile who could be called a
he said: I want to be like God. And he found out that immediately he became as much unlike serpent on the one hand, and a dragon on the other; the difference being as we think of a
God as it is possible to be. God is holy, and he became wretched. And he says to Eve: See, the serpent, we think of a legless creature. As we think of a dragon, we think of a creature with
reason God doesn't want you to eat is because if you eat, you'll become like God. He's just legs. Some kind of amazing and wondrous creature that perhaps we have no indication of in the
taking them through the same exact scenario, only he knows exactly what the effect of it is created world today.
going to be. He doesn't understand the procreative aspect, but he does understand that if they
sin, they are going to experience exactly what he experienced; the desire to be like God Now you have a New Testament commentary. I'm going to close with this. We have a New
becomes the reality of being as much unlike God is as is conceivable. And what he found out is Testament commentary on Genesis 3 in two places. 2nd Corinthians 11. This continues to help
she thought she could be like God, and ended up in the same situation; as much unlike God as it us to understand who this serpent is, and also to demonstrate the veracity of this account. In
is possible to be. 2nd Corinthians 11:3, Paul says: "I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his
craftiness..." There is that same idea of craftiness. There is that serpent, and there is Eve again.
This is a subtle snake. This is a snake who hates God. This is a snake who's angry about the Bottom line: This is a New Testament affirmation to the reality of the Old Testament account.
circumstance in which he has found himself, this Satan, this dragon, this serpent. And he wants This is not, again, a legend; this is not a fable; this is not a parable. This is a real account. "The
to pull this wondrous new creation...he must've...Satan must have looked at the creation of serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness." And that simply affirms and gives commentary to what
Adam and Eve...this isn't anything like I've known. Angels don't procreate; this "multiply and we see in Genesis Chapter 3. It is also true in 1st Timothy 2...I want you to look at Verses 13
fill the earth, replenish the earth," and this sovereignty over these wondrous creatures. And, you and 14...that the pattern of what happened in the garden is sustained by the New Testament.
know, it's amazing for you and I to go to a zoo. But just imagine angelic beings wandering Verse 13 of 1st Timothy 2. 1st Timothy 2:13. "It was not Adam who was deceived." Okay?
around in the first few days of Eden! What wondrous things God has made. And the malevolent You want to remember that. This was not Adam who was deceived." Adam wasn't deceived.
and wicked Satan and his other minions wanting to pull it all down into iniquity. And this is Who was deceived? Eve. She was there. She was deceived. And Adam just says hey, yeah, if
what leads to this scenario. you're going to do that, I'm going to do that, too, and jumped in. There was no deception. That
5
affirms the story exactly the way it lays out in Genesis. It was Adam who was first deceived -- So what we're going to do next time is I'm going to take you through the Old Testament and
is this important? Of course, it's important. Because the very fact that that is an accurate historic show you how Satan is presented in the Old Testament. I'm going to show you also how he fell,
representation supports the fact that the man is the head of the woman. Because a woman, out why he fell. And once we understand the serpent, then we'll launch into his approach to Eve
from under the authority of her husband, acting independently, is more susceptible to with greater understanding, and it will help us in our own struggle as well. All right, enough.
deception. And so: "It was Adam first created, then Eve. It was not Adam who was deceived,
but the woman, being quite deceived, fell into transgression."
Let's pray.
So there we have in the New Testament the clear identity as to who the serpent was, and the "Creation: Believe It Or Not" - Sermon 1 of 2
affirmation of this temptation by the devil. Now what can we say in summarizing all of this? "Creation: Believe It Or Not" - Sermon 2 of 2
The person, the personality, let's say, in the reptile, is not identified in Genesis 3. But we can "God, Creator And Redeemer"
know this: There is a real personality there. There is a personality there opposed to God, calling "The How, Why, And When Of Creation" - Sermon 1 of 2
God's word into question; calling God's character into question, impugning God, and saying: "The How, Why, And When Of Creation" - Sermon 2 of 2
God just doesn't want you to know everything he knows because he's selfish, in effect. So here "Creation Day 1" - Genesis 1:6-8
is a personality of malevolent, wicked, evil, vicious personality opposed to God, opposed to "Creation Days 2 & 3" - Genesis 1:9-13
man, because he wants to plunge humanity into the same misery that he has. He's not going to "Creation Day 4" - Genesis 1:14-19
Eve and saying whatever you do, Eve, don't disobey God; whatever you do, Eve, don't seek to "Creation Day 5" - Genesis 1:20-23
be like God. I'm living testimony; it is a bad choice. There is no element of that in Satan. He is "Creation Day 6" - Part 1 of 3 - The Creation Of Man - Genesis 1:24-26
wretched and malevolent from the top to the bottom, inside out, if you can use those terms of a "Creation Day 6" - Part 2 of 3 - The Creation Of Man - Genesis 1:26-27
spiritual being. He seeks only evil. And so, he rushes to destroy man. He is deceptive; he is "Creation Day 6" - Part 3 of 3 - The Creation Of Man - Genesis 1:26-31
lying; he is hostile; he is wicked, he is a killer. He wants to bring about the death not only of all "The Implications Of Evolution"
those angels that went with him, but the death of the whole human race. "The 'Rest' Of Creation" - Genesis 2:1-3
"The Sabbath Of Moses" - selected Scriptures (Exodus 31:12-17)
As powerful as he is, as wicked as he is, as evil as he is...listen to this...he is subject to God's "The Sabbath Question: The Nature Of the Old Covenant" - selected Scriptures
sovereign control. Now, listen. His temptation of Eve does not involve any compulsion on his "The New Testament And The Mosaic Sabbath" - selected Scriptures
part. He can't make her sin. He doesn't have that power. Now let me tell you something, folks. "The Lord's Day - Does It Matter" - selected Scriptures
The devil still can't make you sin. Do you hear that? He cannot make you sin. When you sin, "The Creation Of Man" - Genesis 2:4-7
you bear the responsibility. He does not have the power to make you sin. He didn't have the "Man In The Garden Of God" - Genesis 2:8-17
power to make Eve sin. She sinned by her own choice. And Adam and Eve are fully guilty for "The Creation Of Woman" - Genesis 2:18-25
their sin. He is a malevolent power, but he is subject to God's sovereign control. We'll see that "What Is Sin?" - Genesis 3:1-7
when we look at the story of Job next week. "The Breadth And Depth Of Sin" - Genesis 3:1-7
"The Origin Of Evil" - Genesis 3:1-7
"The Character Of Satan" - selected Scriptures
And his...his power has its limits. God says you have so much room, beyond which you cannot "The Fall Of Satan" - selected Scriptures
go. And one of the things that he's limited in is his power. Think of it this way. He thought he "The Fall Of Man" - Part 1 of 2 - Genesis 3:1-5
could be like God. But guess what? He's not omniscient, he's not omnipotent, and he's not "The Fall Of Man" - Part 2 of 2 - Genesis 3:6-7
omnipresent, and he's not immutable, and he's not sovereign. He's not like God at all. He's "Confrontation In Eden" - Genesis 3:8-13
utterly as much unlike God as a creature could be. He didn't get what he wanted. And as Martin "The Curse On The Serpent" - Part 1 of 2 - Genesis 3:14-15
Luther said: "The devil is the Lord's devil. He functions within the sovereign purposes of God "The Curse On The Serpent" - Part 2 of 2 - Genesis 3:14-15
to achieve the things that are in the eternal decree of God for the salvation of sinners, the "The Curse On The Woman" - Part 1 of 2 - Genesis 3:16
damnation of sinners and the ultimate triumphant destruction over evil." "The Curse On The Woman" - Part 2 of 2 - Genesis 3:16
"The Curse On The Man" - Part 1 of 2 - Genesis 3:17-19
Now, the primary word for him, the primary name is Satan. Satan. He is called that, as I just "The Curse On The Man" - Part 2 of 2 - Genesis 3:17-19
read you, in Revelation 12:9 and Revelation 20 Verse 2. But he is also called that in the Old "The Promise Of Redemption" - Part 1 of 2 - Genesis 3:20-21
Testament. That's right; three times in three passages, he is identified by the name "Satan." "The Promise Of Redemption" - Part 2 of 2 - Genesis 3:20-24
Satan, to give you a little preview of next week, "Satan" is a word that means adversary, or "Cain: The Portrait Of A Doomed Sinner" - Part 1 of 2 - Genesis 4:1-5
opponent. He is the adversary of God and he's the adversary of man. He could be called the "Cain: The Portrait Of A Doomed Sinner" - Part 2 of 2 - Genesis 4:6-16
adversary, with a definite article, "the" adversary. And he is the first couple of times. The third
time he's mentioned, 1st Chronicles 21, he's called "adversary." And "the adversary," simply e-mail Ransel F. Villaruel at:
being a term to identify him, becomes a proper name. And he's no longer the adversary; he is [email protected]
adversary with a capital S. Satan. And from then on, he is Satan. He is the adversary of God
and the adversary of man. 2nd Corinthians 11:2 says we don't want to be "ignorant of his
devices."