Have you ever wondered why the snake went after Eve in the first place? The Bible tells us that the snake tempted Eve and Eve shared the fruit with Adam and then they were kicked out of the garden. It would take sweat and work to grow food. Bringing life into the world would include pain. The snake would crawl on his belly and eat dust. Apart from those broad strokes, the Bible is silent…
And, well, where people of faith are curious, we tell stories; we write legends of what might have been and we look for lessons for our own time, for our own lives. There’s a story called “The Life of Adam and Eve” that has survived in 6 different languages. The ones that we have are from the 3rd-5th centuries, but some parts of the story may be as old as the 1st century.
In one, the Devil confronts Adam and Eve after they are kicked out of the garden. He’s far from done with them. Adam has just learned how to tame animals to help him plow the earth when, out of nowhere, the Devil stands in front of the oxen and won’t get out of the way. He says: “The earth is mine, God owns Heaven (and Paradise). If you… become mine, then, by all means, till the earth. [But] if… you want to belong to God then [you can only go] into Paradise.” Despite his recent fall, Adam is no slouch. He says, “God owns Heaven and Paradise, but God also owns the earth and the sea and the entire world.” The devil demands a contract and a pledge. Adam signs a deal that basically says “I and all my children after me belong to whoever is Lord of the earth.” The devil assumed he’d won, but Adam knew who the Lord of the earth truly was.
Not too long after that, Eve agreed to repent while standing in the Tigris River. With water up to her neck, she promised to stay without speaking, without eating, to ask for God’s forgiveness. When who should appear, but Satan, dressed as an angel of light. He sees her weeping and pretends to weep with her. He tells her that all of the angels have prayed for her forgiveness and God has granted it. She can come out of the water. When she comes out, she realizes she has been tricked by the Devil again.
Now Eve has a chance to ask the question. She basically says: “Why are you fighting against us? What did we ever do to you? Why do you persecute us and hurt us and hate us so much?” And for whatever reason, the Devil answers her. “All of my hatred and jealousy and resentment is because it’s your fault that I was expelled from heaven and alienated from my glory. It’s because of you that I was cast down to the earth.” Adam repeats Eve’s question: “For goodness’ sake, why?”
Then we hear a new story. When Adam was first formed, God molded him like pottery and breathed life into him. Michael saw this new creature who carried the image of God and brought him before God. Then Michael called the angels together. He showed them that the image of God is within Adam and asked them to bow in respect to that image. Michael was the first to humble himself.
But the Devil is incensed. He refuses to bow down before Adam. He says “Why are you trying to make me do this? Why should I have to bow down to a creature that is lower than me and was created after me. I’ve been here since long before he showed up. He should bow in deference to me.” And the angels under the Devil’s command agreed and they refused to bow down, too. Michael warns the Devil that God will be angry if he doesn’t respect this new creation. The Devil fires back: “If God gets angry with me, I’ll place my throne of cherubs above the stars of heaven. Then I’ll be like the Most High.” So, surprise, he and his angels were expelled, condemned to walk the earth. The Devil grieved the glory that they lost. When he saw Adam and Eve surrounded by delights of happiness in the Garden, it was too much for him to bear. Adam and Eve and all their children would be his sworn enemies forever.
It can really help to have a figure to focus in on – to be able to say that all the sin and evil and suffering in the world comes through Satan or the Devil. But even with that belief, it’s a lot harder to make sense of the ways that sin and evil can multiply; how powerful those forces can be; how sometimes they seem to pursue humanity like a predator.
This great sign in Revelation, the stories of Adam and Eve in Genesis, and the legends that we tell to make sense of them… it’s like they’re trying to reveal the same thing to us. “All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again.”I From the beginning of time to the end, whatever power evil has is overcome by God, by Christ, by the Spirit, again and again and again. Revelation isn’t there to scare us or to glorify violence. It’s trying to show us that even when things seem to be getting worse and worse with no end in sight – God is still making a way for life – for life abundant.
References:
–https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Adam_and_Eve
–https://www2.iath.virginia.edu/anderson/vita/english/vita.sla.html
–https://www2.iath.virginia.edu/anderson/vita/english/vita.geo.html
–https://www2.iath.virginia.edu/anderson/vita/english/vita.lat.html
–https://www2.iath.virginia.edu/anderson/vita/english/vita.arm.html
I “Flesh and Bone.” Battlestar Galactica, written by Toni Graphia, directed by Brad Turner, NBC Universal Television, 2004.
