Home | Contents

Vitality - The Origin Of Being.

Part Five

To be challenged by a jest was not what Adam and Eve were expecting, or prepared for, when they again came face to face with Satan. On the previous occasion when they met, the once friendly snake had seemed more intent on his own interests than theirs.

They met again by the tree and he was even more offhand in manner than before, as though he was bored with them. Eve, who had become accustomed to being graciously acknowledged and flattered, was irked by this change of attitude and she expressed her feelings clearly and bluntly. Her response filled Satan with high expectations, for his planned jest was more likely to succeed with a headstrong nature than a more humble and cautious one. To further irritate Eve, Satan showed Adam a small token of respect by inferring that he, Adam, was obviously concerned by Eve's lack of manners.

Not to be outdone, Eve threw caution to the wind and accused Satan of being unreliable. She claimed that the real reason for his previous friendly interest was to try and trick them into disobeying God and to eat the fruit of the tree that God had forbidden them to eat or touch, under pain of death.

Satan responded with hysterical laughter, and hissed and coiled in playful jesting.

He taunted and teased her playfully for being so gullible as to believe that God would allow them to die. "No, you will not die! You are God's children and you are immortal. Look at what you can do and what you already know. I have not deliberately ignored you but have been engrossed in finding out what God is planning for you, by way of surprise. It was not my intention to tell you what is being planned, but by misinterpreting my motives you have left me with no other choice."

"Eve, you said something recently that made me think, and I have been investigating what it all means. It involves what is called 'evil', a meaning derived from your name I think," he laughed jokingly. "No, I mean a new thing or event; something you have not yet experienced. The truth is, God wants you to have the knowledge of good and evil so that you will become more like him. On the day you eat the fruit of that tree your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil."

"God wants to mark the occasion as a special event, at a time He has chosen. It will be a great surprise, a special gift for you both. That is why He told you not to eat that fruit, and to ensure that you don't has emphasized the point - 'under the pain of death'."

Having played his trump card and realising the influence it was having on both Adam and Eve, and Eve in particular, Satan tactfully and cunningly slithered away into the grass at the base of the tree to await the outcome.

God, who observed what was happening, remained silent.

For what Adam and Eve now faced, as a test of their intellect and integrity, was of their own making. Their next decision would be a serious exercise of freewill.

See Part Six and also T.O.E - The Order Explained, The Generating Generosity of God and The Generosity of God.

Top | Home | Contents

Copyright © 1999-2006 Mantelet Communications. All rights reserved. This text may be downloaded or printed out for private reading. Mantelet directs that portions of text not be taken out of context for purposes of quotation and/or analysis. It may not be uploaded to another Internet site or published, electronically or otherwise, without express written permission from Mantelet.