In the previous chapter we wondered about the moral dilemma. And the issue of freedom came up. Logically, for there to be a possibility of a dilemma, there must be a possibility of choice and, therefore, of error. This is the possibility in this chapter, which is sometimes nicknamed “The Fall” . We will discuss this denomination at the end of this article.
v3. But the serpent was cunning, so Yahweh has told you not to eat from the tree?
Yahweh forbids eating the fruit of the tree. Does God forbid us to choose from our freedom? No, God warns us of the consequences of, by misusing freedom, choosing evil. He has a plan of happiness for us. But believe us, for love, free.
If I tie him to a chair in the house so that my son does not do evil and no one does him harm, will anyone think that our father-son relationship is a love relationship? Well, the same between God and us. God for love can’t bind me The love story between God and me is a story of love, and therefore of freedom, and therefore, full of errors-sins on my part and full of forgiveness from God.
v4. The serpent said to the woman: You will be like God
Well, most of those mistake-sins come from deception. In this passage the deception seems to be born of the serpent, but if we think about it a little, we will surely see that the deception is born of an inordinate desire, the desire to “be like God” . The snake, the deception, already finds the land half tilled, the harvest will be very easy.
Are we fooled, are we fooled or are we fooled?
v9. Yahweh called the man and said: Where are you?
v10. And he answered: I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid
Yahweh cares about the being he has created in his image and likeness. God cares about our happiness and, therefore, our problems and fears. Those fears increase when we stray from God’s plan of happiness. Our scenario becomes adverse, we are out of our natural habitat. And we may end up not recognizing ourselves or recognizing God’s love and concern in God’s voice. Will we end up hiding from Him and being afraid of His call?
v13. And the woman said: The snake deceived me
And behold, in this verse the great deception of excuses is inaugurated in history. It’s so easy to blame others. The woman with that excuse of “the snake deceived me” inaugurates a chain of excuses. It will be followed by the man blaming the woman. And since for me the other is always to blame and for the other the
has another … because in the end nobody is to blame. No one is to blame for hunger in the world, nor for wars and the arms race, nor for drugs that destroy lives, nor for pedophilia … And it is that excuses are born small but they are getting bigger and bigger and, sadly, they turn into great self-deception. I myself end up being my own snake.
v15. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, she will hit you on the head
As I said at the beginning, this passage is nicknamed “The Fall” . We always strive to look at the worst. Because if we read in a more positive key, this verse 15 could illuminate a very different nickname for this chapter. “The Promise” would be a much more hopeful title. And if, in addition, we do a believing reading of the Word, the figure of our Mother Mary appears on our horizon, embodying that promise, and consequently that of Jesus, the Savior.
Quique Fernández
Miracle Sound Radio
