In the beginning…13b. Eden

“Hello. Who are you?” she asked tentatively.

“My name is Lucifer. May I ask you a question, Eve?” he baited the trap.

“I guess so; none of the other animals can talk and they certainly don’t have names except what Adam and I have given a few of the friendlier ones,” Eve rambled, still somewhat wary.

“I’m not really a snake. I’m actually an angel, a messenger of God. In fact, I’m the one God chose to come to the Earth first and gather the handful of dirt that he used to make Adam,” Lucifer explained.

“Oh. Well, then I’m glad to meet you, uh, Lucifer,” Eve greeted him hesitantly. “You said you had a question?”

“Yes, Eve. Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” the serpent interrogated her.

“We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die,” Eve answered.

“Eve, tell me, did you actually hear God say that?” Lucifer questioned.

“Well, no. Adam told me about it, though,” Eve explained.

Just then the snake-like angel, whose form at this time still had stubby legs, plucked a piece of the knowledge tree’s fruit with a front appendage and held it out showing it to Eve and then stated, “I’ve touched this and I haven’t died, Eve.”

The serpent continued the dialog, “In fact, I’m quite hungry.” With that Lucifer lifted the fruit to his mouth, touched it to his fluttering tongue, and then took a large bite of the juicy-looking morsel with his large, gleaming, prominent fangs. “See, no fatal side affects at all. It actually tastes extremely good. Best fruit I’ve ever eaten in this garden; and I’ve sampled them all,” he lied.

Lucifer, now ensured of Eve’s total and rapt attention, continued, “No, Eve, as you can plainly see, you will not surely die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil and understanding everything.”

Forgetting that she and Adam were already a lot like God, having been created in his image and after his likeness, Eve remained fatally fooled. When she saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she met Lucifer’s outstretched arm halfway, grasped the piece of fruit he was presenting, raised it to her  lips, and bit.

“That’s delicious!” she exclaimed. She then called her husband. “Adam!”

“Just a minute, Eve,” came the reply. Adam was halfway up and into the Tree of Life exploring its middle branches. He called back, “Eve, the view from up here is truly incredible. We’ll have to build ourselves a tree house, so we can relax in the shade and enjoy seeing more of this lovely garden at a time than what we can view from the ground.”

“Later, right now I want to show you something wonderful! Come on over here, please!” Eve pleaded.

“Okay. I’m coming,” he shouted as he climbed down to the ground and made his way across the grassy area between the two trees. “What’s so wonderful? Is it time to eat, yet?”

“As a matter of fact, it is,” replied his wife. “And you won’t believe what we’re having for our afternoon snack today! Here!” Eve held out a piece of the fruit that she had stripped from the tree. Her other palm held several of the succulent fruit. “Try this!” she insisted.

Before Adam could question her further about the origin, he found himself biting into and through the skin of the fruit. As soon as the juices hit his taste buds, his eyes opened widely and his mouth exclaimed, “Wow! That’s better than anything I’ve ever eaten! What is it? Where’d you find it?”

Eve hesitated, but then found her courage, “It’s the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. My new friend Lucifer gave it to me.”

“Lucifer?” Adam stammered anxiously, “Who’s Lucifer?”

“An angel from heaven. He was sitting in this tree. He had taken on the body of a big snake. Guess the angels aren’t allowed to let us see what they really look like.”

“An…angel? Where?” Adam beseeched.

“He’s right here,” she confirmed, turning to indicate the branch on which the serpent had been reclining not a minute earlier. She looked around the tree and ground for a moment then continued to her husband, “Well, he was right there on that branch. I guess he left. Adam, you know what?”

“No, Eve,” Adam responded, becoming somewhat nervous. “What?”

“He said he was the same angel whom God sent to Earth to get a handful of dirt from which the Father made you! Isn’t that amazing!” Eve could hardly contain her excitement.

“But, Eve, we weren’t supposed to eat any of that fruit or even touch it lest we die,” Adam pointed out.

Eve rebutted, “Lucifer explained all that, Adam. Actually God told us not to eat it, because we would become as wise as he is. We won’t die, we’ll just be smart.”

Just then it seemed as though a fog lifted from the eyes of the human pair.


[to be continued]