The Story of the Bible:
God's Message to the World
ISBN: 978-1-62419-942-4 | For All Ages | December 28th, 2012
WHY AM I HERE? If you want to know that, you have to ask another question: WHO IS GOD? And how could anyone expect to find that out? The only way is if God Himself were to tell you who He is. This book contends that God has done just that! The Bible is God's message to the world—the key that unlocks the mysteries of your life and of all human history. The answers to all the important questions people ask are woven into its story line. It is a drama of epic proportions, filled with anguish and suspense, treachery and valor. There's a dangerous villain, a rescuer who comes in disguise, apparent defeat and final triumph. This book summarizes the action of the Bible and introduces some of its characters and themes. Its purpose is to retell the story in such a compelling way that readers will be drawn to study the Bible itself and come to know its Author—and through knowing Him obtain eternal life.
Beverly Hubbard grew up in a family that loved the Bible. She had heard all the Bible stories by the time she learned to read, and after that she could read them for herself. When her parents went to Brazil as missionaries, she and her siblings were educated in mission boarding schools. Later, after getting a teaching certificate and a BA degree in English from Seattle Pacific University, she returned to Brazil to teach in a mission school. She and her husband served there together for thirteen years.
Part 12
WHAT WAS THE FLAW IN PARADISE?
“He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’” (Genesis 3:1)
Enter the villain! In disguise, of course. No black cape or dark shadow over the sun to alert the unsuspecting to danger. In her paradise home, Eve has known only perfect friendship and communication between herself and Adam and between them and God. What reason would she have to be on guard against the fascinating creature now speaking with her?
We know that it was Satan talking through the serpent and that he was on a mission. Ever since God had thrown him out of Heaven for planning rebellion against Him, Satan had been waiting for his chance to get back at God. Not directly, because nobody can fight against God and win. But God had left Himself wide open when He created these human beings with the ability to choose. Anyone could see how much God loved them. What a blow to God it would be if Satan could get them to turn against Him! Satan planned his strategy and struck.
“Did God really say . . .?” he asked the woman. That’s what Satan does. He gets people to doubt God’s Word. “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” He gets people to think that God is cheating them.
“Oh, no,” the woman said. “Just the tree in the middle of the garden. We must not eat from it, or we will die.”
“You will not surely die,” the serpent said. Now he’s calling God a liar. He’s saying that what God said is not true. “For God knows,” he continued, “that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Suddenly paradise didn’t seem so perfect to Eve. Something is missing, she thought, and this is what it is—to decide for myself what is good and what is evil. What can be wrong with that? So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to Adam, who was with her, and he also ate it.
What had happened? Satan had deceived Eve into rebelling against God by disregarding His command. Adam was not deceived. He knew what he was doing. He deliberately did what God had told him not to do. He turned away from depending on God.
Immediately they realized they were naked, and they cowered from each other in shame. What would you do if you were suddenly exposed out in the open? You would grasp for the nearest shred of cover. They probably worked furiously sewing together those fig leaves, hoping to make themselves presentable. The question is: Did they die?