The Villain Series

August 24, 2024

The Prologue concluded last week by telling us that Adam and Eve were naked, yet not ashamed.

How long did this beautiful, peaceful, perfect situation last? We don’t know. God did not see fit to tell us the time span between the end of the Prologue and the beginning of the Big Story. Why? Again, it is not important to the story and I believe that God is challenging us right at the beginning to choose faith in what he does tell us. There will always be conflict between the “Evidence of Men” and the “Word of God.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) We get to decide which one we are going to put our faith in.

Of course, a blank space on a page always causes a great stir in the force….. We want dates, but ancient dates are moving targets:

• In the 1650’s, Bishop James Ussher published a work entitled, “Annals of the Old and New Testament.” In it he confidently stated that Creation began on the morning of October 23, 4004 BC. Christians still use Ussher’s Chronology to argue for a young earth.

Jewish calculations say Creation occurred in 3761 BC.

Byzantine (330AD-1453AD) calculations say Creation occurred in 5509 BC.

So, which is it? Well, here is a fine example of well-intentioned speculation. The Bible is silent, so we came up with something to fill in the blank.

I’m not arguing in favor of a young earth (6000 – 10,000 years old) or an old earth (millions of years old) interpretation.

My argument is that the Bible is silent – thus ends the conversation.

Okay, so we don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, but at some point in time we are introduced to the Villain in the Big Story.

Genesis 3:1a - Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made…..

1st, we need to establish who this “serpent” is:

• Revelation 12:9 - And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

• Revelation 20:2-3 - And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

The “serpent” is non-other than Satan.

This is where Ellen White proves helpful (PP 52.1):

No longer free to stir up rebellion in heaven, Satan's enmity against God found a new field in plotting the ruin of the human race. In the happiness and peace of the holy pair in Eden he beheld a vision of the bliss that to him was forever lost. Moved by envy, he determined to incite them to disobedience, and bring upon them the guilt and penalty of sin. He would change their love to distrust and their songs of praise to reproaches against their Maker. Thus he would not only plunge these innocent beings into the same misery which he was himself enduring, but would cast dishonor upon God, and cause grief in heaven.

While the name of our Villain is referenced only 46 times in Scripture, his work is evident on nearly every page.

Ellen White (PP 53.3) - The tree of knowledge had been made a test of their obedience and their love to God. The Lord had seen fit to lay upon them but one prohibition as to the use of all that was in the garden; but if they should disregard His will in this particular, they would incur the guilt of transgression. Satan was not to follow them with continual temptations; he could have access to them only at the forbidden tree. Should they attempt to investigate its nature, they would be exposed to his wiles. They were admonished to give careful heed to the warning which God had sent them and to be content with the instruction which He had seen fit to impart.

Mistake #1 – One day, Eve found herself in front of the tree:

Genesis 3:1b-5 - And he (the crafty serpent) said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

Mistake #2 – Eve engages with the serpent in conversation.

Mistake #3 – Eve misquotes God (He did not say don’t touch the fruit – 2:16-17):

"We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"