"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not
eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent,
“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.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said
to the woman."
- Genesis 3:1-4
The Serpent Attacks the Word of God...Then and Always
It would appear that the “serpent” (nahas) that spoke with Eve was definitely:
An animal, “than any of the wild animals”
Created by God, “…the Lord God had made”
Has unusual “crafty” (‘arum is “prudent,” “shrewd,” “clever” and is a desirable skill in Proverbs 14:15; 14:18; 22:3; 27:12), but in Job 5:12; 15:5it is used as “crafty” in a negative sense) “the serpent was more crafty”
Is an adversary of God, “Did God really say”
Has an evil motive, “He said to the woman”
Twists God’s Word intentionally, “must not eat from ANY tree in the garden”
Attacks the integrity of God’s Word, “You will not certainly die.”
Attacks the character of God, “For God knows that when you eat.”
In Job 26:12-14 Rahab is identified as the serpent (nahas) defeated by God at creation. (Psalm 74; Isaiah 51:9). In Revelation Satan is called “the great dragon …that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.” It would appear that the “serpent,” nahas, was motivated by a force that God had created. That force was a personality that had rebelled against God and which had been dealt with before by God. God will allow the serpent to continue until the serpent was ultimately defeated in a great conflict in the future.
The attack that the serpent makes in the Garden is against the Words that God had spoken. This is always the case throughout history. The Word of God is the source of truth and truth will create hope, faith and love. Truth will set people free from the twisting lies and deception of the unreality the serpent has perversely woven into and through the kosmos. In the parable of the sower Jesus said,
"Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them." - Mark 4:15
This attack against the Word of God continues today.
"It is difficult to see how Christianity can have a positive effect on society
if it cannot transform
its own homes."
- John MacArthur
The first English translation of the Bible was done by John Wycliffe in 1380. The printing press was not invented for another 70 years (1450 by Johannes Gutenberg) so every Bible was copied by hand. Even though the Church considered it illegal for people to read an English Bible, the hand written manuscripts circulated for 150 years. Wycliffe died of a stroke in 1384 so the church never had a chance to prosecute him while he was alive. But, forty years later the church dug up his bones, burned them and threw his ashes in a river for having made the Bible available to the common people in the English language. Today an original copy of a Wycliffe Bible
would sell for about two million dollars.
(See Bible here and here, page here, more info here)
Dunamis (Gr) - Power (Eng) - dunamis is a Greek word for "power."
The Greek word dunamis is where we get our English word dynamite.
|
The New Testament uses dunamis over 100x in reference to the
divine power to do miracles and to overcome situations and opposition.
Video of Hezekiah's Tunnel
In 2 Chronicles 32:1-5, 30
and 2 Kings 20:20 the Bible records Judah's King Hezekiah cutting a tunnel to transfer water from the Gihon Springs on the east side of the city to a pool on the west side of Jerusalem around the year 701 BC. This tunnel has been found along with an inscription on the wall written in the ancient Hebrew from that same time period that says:
"[…when] (the tunnel) was driven through. And this was the way in which it was cut through: While [ . . .] (were) still [ . . . ] axes, each man toward his fellow, and while there were still three cubits to be cut through, [there was heard] the voice of a man calling to his fellows, for there was an overlap in the rock on the right [and on the left]. And when the tunnel was driven through, the quarrymen hewed (the rock), each man toward his fellow, axe against axe; and the water flowed from the spring toward the reservoir for 1200 cubits, and the height of the rock above the heads of the quarrymen was 100 cubits."
Do I believe the truth of the Word of God is attacked today?
Can I identify myself siding with an attack against the truth of the Word of God?
I will be alert to my own soul rejecting the Word of God and will not accept deceptions
and alterations of the Truth.
"My son, if you...call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you
look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you
will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."
- Proverbs 2:1, 3-5
Zechariah's Tomb is a cube cut out of the rock in the Kidron Valley druing the life of Jesu with Ionic pilasters and a pyramid top. "A" in the photo above marks a corridor with steps that provides access to the tomb of the Hezir family to the left. "B" marks a small chamber cut under the base to serve as a tomb. To the right (south) is a tomb that was never finished. This monument (called "Zechariah's Tomb") may have been built to honor those who would be buried in the unfinished tomb to the south. (click on image for larger size)
The pendulum swing of the mainline church between emotional mysticism and academic bondage through
2,000 years of church history.
(click on image for larger size)
