The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Pamphlet 1756 Figtree kc 2-3

Let's go to Genesis and see what happened in the garden.

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
You now know who this "serpent" is who was more subtle, meaning cunningly wise, than any "beast" of the field, which means any other living, created being, human or otherwise! So the PICTURE you now need to place in your mind is one of a very smart, good looking, handsome young man who is very, very charming and likeable and intelligent and well spoken. Got it?

That old serpent has perpetuated a lie, a tradition, about the "snake" and the "apple" long enough. Do not let him have the victory any more! Again, it is his diabolical plan to deceive a Biblically ignorant people, "because it ministers to the acceptance of his lie, the hiding of God's truth, the jeers of the infidel, the opposition of the critics, and the stumbling of the weak in faith." (Companion Bible, appendix 19, last paragraph.)

By the way, the apostle Paul also refers to this "serpent" in the garden in 2 Cor. 11:3:

2 Cor. 11:3
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
The Greek word for "serpent" is ophis, which means "an artful, malicious person; (figuratively a snake).
serpent = –öéò  ophis  of'-is   Strong's #3789
Probably from G3700 (through the idea of sharpness of vision); a snake, figuratively (as a type of sly cunning) an artful malicious person, especially Satan:—serpent.
Again, Satan appeared to Eve as a beautiful and charismatic charming young man, truly a glorious "angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:14).

Let's repeat Gen. 3:1.

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Notice that Satan is about to tempt Eve with God's Word and He is quoting the Word of God, though he has slightly twisted what was actually said! God told Adam that he could freely eat of every tree of the Garden. See what a subtle twist this is, from a positive to a doubtful questionable negative?
Genesis 2:16
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
There was only one "tree" that he was "NOT to eat of" and that was the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" in midst of the garden, the corrupt one who bore "bad fruit" which ultimately causes "death".
[17] 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.
Have you ever read Ezekiel chapter 31 concerning the Assyrian (the te ashshur  meaning "box cedar") who was in Eden?
Ezekiel 31:3
Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.
This is not a literal "tree" as we will see, any more than the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was a literal "fruit" tree!
[4] The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field.
"Waters" are symbolic of people (Rev. 17:15). They made this tree great!
[5] Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.
His influence extended worldwide, even unto all the nations (next verse).
[6] All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
All nations cannot "dwell" under an actual tree, can they? Of course not! And the fowls of heaven are those "dirty birds" which we learn more about in our study of the fig tree parable.
[7] Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.
The "great waters" are the children of God, the House of Israel represented by the 12 stones that the Levite Priests wore. In Ezek. 28 you will find that Satan, called the king of Tyre, wore those same stones on his breastplate in the first earth age (before his rebellion) and walked up and down in the midst of them (called the stones of fire. God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29).
[8] The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.
He was something else, this handsome intelligent preacher and leader of God's people! Did you know that he drew a third of God's children away from Him and caused them to follow and participate in his liberal ways! (Rev. 12:4). Many, many people just love this guy! Yes, the Devil, the serpent!
 
[9] I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
Trees do not envy other trees. Remember they have no brains and no knowledge of good and evil. Satan WAS the tree in the midst of the garden of Eden, both in the first earth age as shown here, and in this earth age in Gen. 3! It was Satan, that old serpent the devil, who tempted Eve and beguiled her.

Satan also tempted Jesus Christ in the wilderness with God's Word by misquoting and twisting the scriptures to read and mean the "letter" of what is written, instead of the "truth" of what is written. Most Christians do not even know that Satan misquoted the Word of God when he tempted Jesus Christ. Do you?

Let us go back to the garden.

Genesis 3:2
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Notice Eve also did not accurately quote God's Word for she left out the word "freely", probably due to the now negative tone Satan has injected into God's words.
[3] 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.
Eve again has not gotten it right! God did not say "LEST ye die!" There is no "lest" or "perhaps" about it! It is not "questionable" at all! God said "thou shalt surely die!" She also added "neither shall ye touch it"! However, she will end up "touching" this tree who will literally "touch" her as in wholly seduce her. Yes, she will lose her "virginity" to the serpent, to this handsome, smart young man! Have you ever looked up the word "touch" in a Hebrew dictionary?
touch = òâ‡ðˆnaòga€naw-gah'  Strong's #5060
A primitive root; properly to touch, that is, laythehandupon (for any purpose; euphemistically, to liewith a woman); by implication to reach (figuratively to arrive, acquire); violently, to strike (punish, defeat, destroy, etc.):—beat, (X be able to) bring (down), cast, come (nigh), draw near (nigh), get up, happen, join, near, plague, reach (up), smite, strike, touch.
That is why Paul talks about presenting the church as a chaste virgin unto Christ, unlike Eve who was "seduced" by the serpent and lost her virginity to him!
2 Cor. 11:2
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
The analogy is that you are to stay spiritually true as a "chaste virgin" and wait for your bridegroom, Jesus Christ. Do not be like Eve who was "beguiled" by the handsome young intellectual preacher in the midst of the garden!
[3] But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

beguiled = dîáðáôÜùexapatao ex-ap-at-ah'-o Strong's #1818
From G1537 and G538; to seducewholly:—beguile, deceive.

Let us continue with the discussion in Genesis chapter 3:
Genesis 3:4
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Satan has now brought the Word of God into question and after leading a twisted discourse he smiles at Eve and tells her that God didn't really mean that you will actually die! This is the first of many, many lies, for he is the father of lies (John 8:44).
[5] 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.
It is their "spiritual eyes" that will be opened! In other words they will become enlightened through the expansion of their minds! You see, what Satan is saying is that you do not need God's Word to be your standard for right and wrong. No, you can be liberated, as in a "liberal", and you can determine for yourself what is right and wrong! Yeah, that only makes good sense, doesn't it? I mean, who is to say what is really right or wrong? Furthermore, the argument goes, what right do you have to impose your beliefs on someone else?

Go by what "feels good", baby! Live for today! (Baby Boomers know the song, "Sha la, la, la, la, la, live for today!")

Note: If a person gets really filled with the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good an evil he or she can become an arrogant condescending liberal politician who believes he or she can also determine in his or her own "godly wisdom" what is best for other people (of lesser intelligence). Of course what is good for others would obviously have to exclude God's Word, any reference of which must be stricken from the halls of justice and any and all government and public institutions, especially those schools where the children go to learn.

[6] 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,
Yeah baby! It looks real good! "Come on Eve, think about it! What harm can come to you? God is not going to "kill you" just for having a little fun!"

Now Think: When is the last time you saw an apple tree and said to yourself, "You know self, if I eat the fruit from this tree it will instantly make me wiser. I'll bet these are some kind of smart apples". Get apples and grapes out of your mind. It is the "leaven", the doctrine of Satan, his bad fruit, that Eve listened to. In other words, she "ate up" Satan's philosophical reasonings and "interpretations" of God's Word as he began to appeal to her ego and "desire". It all started to make sense to her and she told Adam all the things she was learning and he began to eat it up also. And before long, they were had!

... she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Thus was Eve "seduced" by the serpent in garden, the truth of which has been hidden for a long time to those who cannot tell the difference between trees and people, to those who have allowed the deceptive stories of the traditions of men to blind their eyes, that in seeing they don't see and in hearing they don't hear.
[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.
Their eyes were opened all right and they experienced something new, NAKEDNESS, both spiritually and physically! But why in the world do they now "know they're naked"? You will find it is because of the SHAME they have brought upon themselves, for disobeying God, yes, but in a much more perverted way than biting bad apples.

"And they sewed FIG LEAVES together, and made themselves aprons." Do you suppose these were itty bitty little aprons that they sewed together to cover their mouths because they just ate a bad apple? How stupid the traditions of men! Learn to think for yourself and stick to God's Word, not the traditions of men.

[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.
Uh oh! There's big trouble in paradise now! Adam and Eve hear their Father walking in the garden in the "ruach" (cool)! And now that they know good and evil, they know they've done evil! So they did what most people do, they HID THEMSELVES! Today we would call it "FigGate". You can read their excuses for disobeying God in verses 9 through 13 on your own. Let us now see what judgment was made by our Father:
Genesis 3:14
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:
"Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life" are Hebraisms, figures of speech, which are simply statements of "degradation" and have nothing to do with snakes crawling! In English we might say you will always be "lower than a snake's belly" and "eat dust" all your life! Remember, the rotten snake seduced mother Eve right there in the fig grove! And you know what? She conceived! We will document that in our next study.

To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.



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