In this continuing look at the creation and fall of man, today we come to the conversation between the woman and the serpent.<\/p>\n
The first thing that we notice about the question that the serpent gives to the woman is that it is an attack on God as the source of supply for both Adam and his wife.\u00a0 The serpent asks:<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed, has God said, \u2018You shall not eat from any tree of the garden\u2019?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What the serpent is saying to the woman is that God has not given them permission<\/strong> to eat at all.\u00a0 Is it just one tree that he says they are not to eat from?\u00a0 No. The serpent says that God hasn\u2019t given them permission to eat from any tree.\u00a0 At this point the woman doesn\u2019t quote from God, but she gives her conclusion.\u00a0 Remember in Genesis 1:29 God said:<\/p>\nGenesis 1:29\u00a0 Then God said, \u201cBehold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Notice that in Genesis 1:29 God didn\u2019t<\/strong> say to Adam and his wife that they could freely<\/strong> eat.\u00a0 He said they were given permission to eat from every single tree that passes the test<\/strong>.\u00a0 The test is that it must have fruit that yields seed.\u00a0 That is pretty understandable isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 The woman understood it and she applied it.\u00a0 So when the serpent questioned her saying that God hadn\u2019t given her permission to eat, she states that she does have permission to eat.\u00a0 She knows she has permission to eat because she has applied the test that God gave her and because she did what God asked of her, she ended up with the conclusion that she has permission to eat from the fruit of the trees in the garden.<\/p>\nAt this point the woman now quotes God.\u00a0 She says:<\/p>\n
Genesis 3:3\u00a0 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, \u2018You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There are several options regarding why the woman said what she did, but I will only be discussing two diametrically opposed options that leave the woman either faultless or guilty of a crime against God.<\/p>\n
The first option that I will look at very carefully is the very common argument from hierarchists that the woman added to God\u2019s words.\u00a0 The claim is that the words \u201cor touch it\u201d was not recorded in scripture anywhere else saying \u201cGod said\u201d therefore we must believe that the woman\u2019s testimony is not true.\u00a0 She is presumed to have added words and illegally attributed them to God.<\/p>\n
Now let\u2019s think this one through.\u00a0 Does God make adding to his words a prohibition? Absolutely, yes he does.\u00a0 It is given as a prohibition three times from Deuteronomy and Proverbs and then specifically later on it is given about the words in the book of Revelation:<\/p>\n
\nDeuteronomy 12:32\u00a0 \u201cWhatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add<\/strong> to nor take away from it.<\/p>\nDeuteronomy 4:2\u00a0 \u201cYou shall not add<\/strong> to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nProverbs 30:6\u00a0 Do not add to His words<\/strong> Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIn Proverbs we see that the result of breaking God\u2019s prohibition is a reproof from God<\/strong> and God will prove the person is a liar.\u00a0 Thus those who add to God\u2019s words are liars and will be disciplined by God himself.<\/p>\nThis is an extremely serious sin and not one to be taken lightly.\u00a0 Is the woman guilty of adding to God\u2019s words?\u00a0 One thing we know for sure.\u00a0 We cannot find someone guilty of sin without two or three witnesses:<\/p>\n
Deuteronomy 19:15\u00a0 \u201cA single witness shall not rise up against a man<\/strong> on account of any iniquity or any sin<\/strong> which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWe can see from God\u2019s standard that the woman cannot be found guilty<\/strong> of any sin unless there is evidence of two or three witnesses<\/span>.\u00a0 It is through two or three witnesses that we will find the matter confirmed or without these witnesses the matter is unconfirmed and the accused person goes free.<\/p>\nIs it a serious matter to charge someone to be guilty who is not proven guilty by the required witnesses?<\/p>\n
Deuteronomy 19:16\u00a0 \u201cIf a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing,
\nDeuteronomy 19:17\u00a0 then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days.
\nDeuteronomy 19:18\u00a0 \u201cThe judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely<\/strong>,
\nDeuteronomy 19:19\u00a0 then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nHere we can see it is an evil thing to accuse someone of a sin without the matter being established with two or three witnesses.\u00a0 We cannot just accuse someone of sin without a solid foundation of evidence.<\/p>\n
Since this is a serious matter, let\u2019s take God\u2019s method of judging the matter and apply it to the case against Eve.<\/p>\n
Okay, let\u2019s list two witnesses since that would be the minimum witnesses<\/strong> that are required for a finding of guilt against the woman.<\/p>\nWho is the first witness?\u00a0 Who charge the woman with adding to God\u2019s word?<\/p>\n
The first person to interact with the woman was the serpent.\u00a0 Did the serpent charge the woman with adding to God\u2019s words<\/span>?\u00a0 No he didn\u2019t.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t this odd?\u00a0 Satan himself speaking through the serpent didn\u2019t even charge the woman.\u00a0 Let\u2019s move on to the next witness.<\/p>\nDid Adam charge the woman with adding to God\u2019s words<\/span>?\u00a0 No he didn\u2019t.\u00a0 When Adam faced God he did not say \u201cThe woman who you gave to be with me is more guilty than I am because she added to your words.\u201d\u00a0 No Adam was silent about the woman\u2019s guilt.\u00a0 No witness here either.<\/p>\nWell what about God Himself?\u00a0 Surely God himself would follow his standard and reprove her of adding to his words and thus prove her to be a liar, right?\u00a0 (Proverbs 30:6)\u00a0 Did God reprove Eve<\/span>?\u00a0 Did God say that the woman was guilty of adding to his word?\u00a0 No one, not even God Himself charged the woman with adding to His own words.\u00a0 Do you know what this means?\u00a0 It means without a single witness against a person<\/span> charging them with sin, we are forbidden by God\u2019s word<\/strong> to attribute guilt to them.<\/p>\nThe question is, what will you do?\u00a0 Will you take the position of accuser?\u00a0 Will you be a malicious witness falsely accusing the woman of sin when there are no witnesses<\/strong> charging her with sin?\u00a0 I think those of us who love God\u2019s word and hold to the scripture\u2019s authority would not want to be the one to cast the first stone.\u00a0 There are no witnesses that can be found in scripture that charge the woman with adding to God\u2019s words.<\/p>\nMy view is that if there are no witnesses to charge the woman with adding to God\u2019s word (and there are no witnesses) then I accept her word that she told the truth<\/strong>.\u00a0 Indeed God did speak to both Adam and his wife and even though these words are not recorded elsewhere in scripture, we can accept the record of God\u2019s words by the testimony of the woman.<\/p>\nNow where do you stand?<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In this continuing look at the creation and fall of man, today we come to the conversation between the woman and the serpent. The first thing that we notice about the question that the serpent gives to the woman is that it is an attack on God as the source of supply for both Adam and his wife.\u00a0 The serpent asks: \u201cIndeed, has God said, \u2018You shall not eat from any tree of the garden\u2019?\u201d What the serpent is saying…<\/p>\n
Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42,43,52,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-beginning-genesis","category-injustice-towards-women","category-opposing-viewpoints","category-prejudice-in-the-church"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe case against Eve - Women in Ministry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/strivetoenter.com\/wim\/2008\/07\/30\/the-case-against-eve\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The case against Eve - Women in Ministry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this continuing look at the creation and fall of man, today we come to the conversation between the woman and the serpent. The first thing that we notice about the question that the serpent gives to the woman is that it is an attack on God as the source of supply for both Adam and his wife.\u00a0 The serpent asks: \u201cIndeed, has God said, \u2018You shall not eat from any tree of the garden\u2019?\u201d What the serpent is saying... 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