Genesis 3: The Serpent

"And the serpent was cunning above every beast in the field"

Later in the Bible at 2 Samuel 13 we read of the "very wise" Jonadab. Amnon the son of King David loves his half sister Tamar. He despairs of her but his cousin Jonadab advises him, "Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And your father will come and see you and you shall say to him, 'Please let my sister Tamar come in and give me food to eat, and she shall make food before my eyes so that I may see and may eat from her hand.'" So ends the advice of Jonadab but it is enough. It leads to the rape of Tamar, her subsequent bereavment and desolation, and the revenge of Absolom against his brother Amnon. As Amnon is about to force Tamar, she tries desperately to reason with him, "No, my brother do not humble me, for it is not done so in Israel. Do not do this foolishness. And I, where should cause I my disgrace to go? And you, you will be as one of the fools in Israel. Please speak to the king for he will not withold me from you." But Amnon is not willing to listen and forces her. We read then, "And Amnon hated her with a very great hatred and the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he loved her."

Jonadab's advice is truly good advice. Amnon wants Tamar and this is the quickest way to get her. But Tamar speaks the truth when she says that Amnon will be as one of the fools in Israel. He could have asked his father to give him his half sister in marriage but no. Amnon in his borrowed wisdom is an utter fool whose end is death at the hand of his own brother Absolom and hatred for the woman he loved so much.

It seems to me that the serpent is something like Jonadab. The serpent is wise, his advice is sound. The tree DOES make Adam and Eve as God, knowing good and evil. The serpent points out the quickest path to the desired result, just like Jonadab. And yet following the serpent, Eve and then Adam become fools. They hide from their friend, the Lord. They know they are naked but casting about they are only able to cover themselves with just about the worst kind of covering, leaves. Had they obeyed God he would have taught them good and evil himself and in the best kind of way (see note below). The kind of knowledge that they have acquired will only torture them. God sends them out from the garden of Eden because he knows that in the Garden they could live forever, and be tortured forever by their ill-gotten knowledge. He sets a cherubim at the tree of life to guard it for just this reason. Amnon too is only tortured by his ill-gotten "knowledge" of Tamar, hating her afterwards with a hatred greater than the love he once bore her. He is slain in the end, just as Adam and Eve in the end must succumb to death. God sustains them in his grace for a long long time but in the end they return to the dust, a thing God never wanted for his children.

God's commandment to Adam looks almost foolish, simple besides the wisdom of the snake. His gift of marriage seems old-fashioned and quaint. Why take the long way when you get there by a short cut? And yet, God's foolishness, as Paul said, is wiser than the wisdom of men.