A Woman And An Angel

http://billrandles.wordpress.com/2010/12/19/the-sign-of-the-swaddling-clothes/ ^ | 12-19-10 | Bill Randles

[pastorbillrandles]

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?( Genesis 3:1-2)

The Angel approached the couple in the garden very calmly, and in an attractive form. “Eve, has God really forbidden you to eat of all of the trees of the garden?” By exaggerating the prohibition placed upon the couple, the serpent was probing, looking for any indication of a rift between they and God.

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.(Genesis 3:3)

The Woman didn’t accept the premise that all of the trees were forbidden, the serpent knew she wouldn’t go that far. But she did exaggerate the prohibition of God, when she said, “We can’t touch the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden.“

Aha! There it is! Now the woman is ready to hear the Word of God openly denied!

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.(Genesis 3:4-5)

Exploiting the opening, the serpent wasted no time, slandering the One who had placed the couple in the garden of delights. Maximizing the prohibition, and minimizing the penalty- “You shall not surely die”- he captured the couple’s imagination, they believed the lie, and acted on it.

Millenia of suffering, pain, death, alienation and misery hung on the few seconds of thought described in the next verse. She considered the “word” of the serpent, and what this ‘revelation’ could do for herself. And she stretched out her hand towards the fruit…

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.(Genesis 3:6)

Long ,weary centuries later, another Angel approached another woman, a young Jewish virgin, in the Galilee, on the edge of the Roman Empire, in the hamlet of Nazareth.

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.(Luke 1:26-28)

A Holy Angel approached a peasant girl. She happened to have been engaged to a carpenter, together they would keep a pious home, for they were devout Jews. “Highly favored? The Lord is with me? I am blessed among women?” What could these strange greetings possibly mean?

Then came the most shocking words;

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.( Luke 1:30-34)

As a pious Jew ,Mary knew, as all devout Jews knew of the promise of God to her ancestor David, that God would give him a greater Son who would one day reign forever! But she was to be the mother of this Son?

Almost unbelievable! Indeed Mary’s family claimed descent from the line of King David, as did hundreds of thousands of others in the tribe of Judah. Nothing about her life and family spoke of royalty, and furthermore, the royal line of David had long been cut off, the scepter had indeed departed from Judah years earlier.

Oh and one other thing, how was this to come to pass? Would Joseph be the father of this chosen one?

Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.(Luke 1:34-35)

The child would be virgin born, truly the Son of God, not in the sense that David and those Sons of David who followed were “Sons of God” , as regents of Israel. This child will be The Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and without the agency of man, a “Holy Thing would be born” of her.

The woman had asked a question of the angel and she had received an answer. An incredible answer, with huge implications for a young ,pious Jewess in a small town. A virgin birth? What will people think? What will Joseph think? She realized that at best, a lifetime of reproach and undeserved shame awaited her decision. But she was highly favored for God wanted to use her…

In that few seconds of agonizing decision, Mary counted the cost. Then said to the Angel and to God -

… Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.(Luke 1:38)

One woman believed an Angel and said to God, “let my will be done,not Thine”. “I do what I want with my body” and trampled underfoot true love, loyalty, and faith.

The other woman believed an Angel of God and said to Him, “Not my will but thine be done, I yield all, even my body to you, even if it means bearing te reproach of Christ”.

Merry Christmas everybody!

[Arlis]

Excellent, dear brother. Excellent.

God bless you and your ministry in exalting and glorifying the Lamb of God!

[UCANSEE2]

Merry Christmas to you and yours. God Bless the work you do.

Now I can go back and read the story.

[goat granny]

>>>The Angel approached the couple in the garden very calmly, and in an attractive form>>>

That is not what is written in my bible, just change a word here and there, no disrepects intended, but that is what the serpent did, just change a word here and there...

Merry Christmas...GG

[pastorbillrandles]

wait a minute goat granny- are you accusing me of doing what the serpent did? Do you deny that the serpent in the garden was none other than the fallen Angel Lucifer? You may not have intendd any disrspect, but you couldn’t be more disrespectful accusing me of doing wht the serpent did, when all I am doing is making a valid biblical point about the parallell between Eve and Mary- both of whom spoke to Angels, one fallen(which was obvious in my post) and one unfallen- you may not appreciate the way I have communicated it, but don’t you think comparing me to the serpent is a cheap shot? I forgive you GG

[goat granny]

I did not compare you to satan, I compared what you wrote, that differs from scripture says....My complaint is what you said and how you said it....There is quite a difference to say the angel in the garden was *attractive* when scripture calls him a serpent.

An if I am remembering correctly, the serpent was cursed to crawl on its belly....(I may not be quite correct on this as I am going by memory).

You as a pastor should know that. And I deny nothing I am remarking on what you wrote and how you worded it..

A valid biblical point does not need to make up something that is not scripturally correct..

Merry Christmas....and if you feel better forgiving me for pointing out your error, thats fine with me...

[goat granny]

I do know a little scripture and I know it was the tempter that was in the garden, the father of all lies...satan, lucifer, and many other names that this creature goes by..

But in Genesis, unless I am mistaken, he was never called attractive...so you and I agree on both points...

[fabian]

well, at that point he was no longer an angel..he had morphed into Satan...I do not believe the bible refers to him as angel in the garden, does it? Small things do matter.

[pastorbillrandles]

Nice GG- its not me, you insist that it is what I write that is Satanic- thanks for the clarification- I suppose you think Paul was Satanic- he called Satan an "Angel of light"- And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.2 Cor 11 Also I don't forgive you to "feel better"- I forgive you ( of your cheap shot ) because I am a Christian-

[pastorbillrandles]

Fabian... Lucifer is still an Angel, the Bible refers to “the Angels that sinned” Job 1 has Satan appearing at an assembly of Angels, Paul in 2 Cor 11 refers to Satan as one who appears as an Angel of light, Galatians 1 refers to Angels bringing another gospel. The Bible reveals that the serpent in the garden is none other than the fallen Angel-Lucifer-

Revelation 12:7 talks about the Dragon and his angels
Matthew 25 tells us that Hell was made for the Devil and his Angels...
I can’t figure out why this is such a problem...

[goat granny]

I didn't know Paul was in the garden of Eden, so what Paul said is not relevant to this article...

Of course I have read that he has been called an Angel of Light, but your post was about Adam and Eve and the serpent. I don't think satan would dare to appear in God's garden as an angel of light so again not relevant.....

I know some people that love the idea of serpents (not the religious one) Movies are made about them and books are written about them, but if your going to tell the story of Genesis, try sticking to scripture for your homily.

You are bringing in other scripture that is not relevant to the Genesis story....but if your a pastor, I hope those in your church are better at scripture than you...sorry, but that is jmho..

Young children in Sunday school are not told such false stories, nor are those in Catechism.

As a child I went to Sunday school in a Lutheran Church and had private instructions before marriage in the Catholic Faith..

[fabian]

okay...did not realize that! Thanks.

[pastorbillrandles]

Granny- Paul was the Lord's apostle, he was talking about the whathappened in the garden of Eden, in the chapter I cited ...2 Cor 11 vs 3But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. All scripture is relevant to other scripture- Thanks for your "humble opinion" but as you yourself admitted, your knowledge of scripture is limited- lets just agree to disagree -

[pastorbillrandles]

Hey we are all learning- merry christmas

[goat granny]

Just one question again.

3But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. >>>>>

In debate one must stick to the subject.....Your use of the word, satan as being an attractive angel in the Genesis story. You are totally wrong and by the quote of Paul that you use, he doesn't say that the serpent was an attractive angel...

We disagree, but your stubborn refusal to say you misquoted scripture makes you less than humble and will turn into a pretzel to say you are right in what you write..

Personally I don't care if you misquote scripture, but as a pastor you should choose your story's carefully and quote scripture correctly....but that is between you and God...so I agree, we disagree on what you stated...

[pastorbillrandles]

Granny why do you want to insult and falsly accuse me of twisting scripture?
I grant that you don’t understand the scriptural analogy between Eve and Mary, but you don’t have to post publically that I am doing with scripture,what Satan did!
Neither do you have to distort what I am saying out of pride and refusal to admit you are wrong.
I have already quoted from 2 Cor 11 where Paul states that Satan poses as an Angel of Light, then I showed you from the same chapter that Paul used Genesis three, the account of Satan,Adam and Eve as areference. You are being obtuse, for some reason you want to establish that I have misquoted scripture, when I haven’t I have stuck to the subject, See for yourself 2 Cor 11:3-14- I am not stubborn, I fear God and would never want to misquote scripture-
You said,”You are totally wrong”- but cannot tell me how, without misrepresenting what I have been saying and insulting me-

BTW what was your question?

[goat granny]

I grant that you don’t understand the scriptural analogy between Eve and Mary, but you don’t have to post publically that I am doing with scripture,what Satan did!>>>>

I said you misquoted scripture in your Genesis story....

Again you say I don't understand the analogy between Eve and Mary, you are wrong in that judgment...being well versed in Catholic teaching and dogma...

When we debate what was written in Genesis, I state and believe you misquoted scripture and if you reread Genesis you will also see that...

When debating Genesis, the subject is just that Genesis, not other subjects within the bible...In other words, I believe that one should stick to the point...

This is important to you so I am sorry if I offended you, but I disagree with what you stated....as I said, I had no intention to offend, but you never did explain why you decided to change the scripture in Genesis....

I hope this puts an end to the discussion, as we have no point of agreement on the Genesis story...

And I hope the Lord bless's you in your ministry...