Experience God

Prime Minister Stephen Harper met this week with representatives of Canada’s first nations communities. In an effort to repair generations of conflict and mistrust, they met in Ottawa to improve communications and come to agreements on some crucial issues. The Chiefs warned that a failure to do so, would most likely result in a rebellion on the part of Canada’s Aboriginal population.

To experience God in a meaningful relationship, there needs to be trust of Him and His word. When difficult external situations stir up internal doubt, we must guard against a desire for autonomy, thereby becoming a law unto ourselves. This rebellion means separation from God. Unchecked, the separation becomes eternal.

What causes conflict between people? People can function together for a time, but when a situation of external doubt arises, and trust is not existing between them, communication breaks down, and bad intentions become assumed. The result is separation.

Genesis presents a picture of warning showing the threats to a harmonious experience of fellowship with God. In Genesis 3:1-9 we see: 1)The Tempter (Genesis 3:1a), 2) The Target (Genesis 3:1b-3), 3) The Tactic (Genesis 3:4-5), and 4) The Tragedy (Genesis 1:6-9)
1)The Tempter (Genesis 3:1a),
Genesis 3:1a [3:1]Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. (He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, ’You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?") (ESV)

The word serpent means “snake.” The apostle John identified this creature as Satan (cf. Rev. 12:9; 20:2) as did Paul (2 Cor. 11:3). The rebellion of Satan had occurred sometime after 1:31 (when everything in creation was good), but before 3:1. He was a beautiful angel originally, rejoicing at God’s Creation (Job 38:4–7), but he sinned and was judged by God (Isa. 14:12–17; Ezek. 28:11–19) God is not the author of sin, nor does He tempt people to sin; this is the work of the devil (James 1:13). (Wiersbe, W. W. (1993). Wiersbe’s expository outlines on the Old Testament (Ge 3:1–6). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.).

The serpent is indicated as "more crafty than any other beast of the field/wild animal that the LORD God had made,”. Explicit characterization of actors in the story is rare in Hebrew narrative, so it seems likely that in noting the snake’s shrewdness the narrator is hinting that his remarks should be examined very carefully. He may not be saying what he seems to be saying. Perhaps we should not take his words at their face value as the woman did. The author wanted to draw a (parallel) between the Fall and man’s quest for wisdom. Man’s disobedience is not so much depicted as an act of great wickedness or a great transgression as much as it is an act of great folly. He had all the “good” (tôḇ) he would have needed, but he wanted more—he wanted to be like God. The forbidden tree is the tree of the knowledge of “good and evil” (ṭôḇ wārāʿ, 2:9). When the woman and the man took of the tree and ate, it was because she “saw that the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom [lehaśkîl]” (v.6). Thus even the serpent is represented as a paragon of wisdom, an archetypical wiseman (ʿārűm). However, the serpent and his wisdom (ʿārűm) lead ultimately to the curse (ʾārűr v.14) (Sailhamer, J. H. (1990). Genesis. In F. E. Gaebelein