1 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?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 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.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 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.
6 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.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
Genesis 3:1-20
One of the most attacked parts of Brother Branham’s Message is, without a doubt, the serpent seed doctrine. After reading Genesis 3:1-20, here are a few obvious questions for the skeptics:
- How can a snake talk?
- Why did Adam and Eve know they were naked when they ate the fruit?
- How can eating just one type of fruit increase our mental capacity to the point that we understand that certain parts of the human body should be covered?
- Where is this fruit today? Is it extinct?
These questions are a bit ridiculous, but so is the concept of magic fruit. The Bible is full of types, and this is one of the most obvious. Here are a few things that you may not have known about Genesis 3 and the serpent seed.
- A few notable Bible verses
- Genesis 4:3 – And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. (speaking of plantlife.)
- Exodus 21:22 – If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her… (speaking of bearing a child)
- Deuteronomy 7:13 – And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land…
- Deuteronomy 30:9 – And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land… (three very different types of fruit)
- Judges 9:11 – But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? (This is not a talking tree, it is a type just like the tree in the Garden is a type.)
- Webster’s definitions of Fruit:
- A product of plant growth
- The usually edible reproductive body of a seed plant
- Offspring
- The effect or consequence of an action or operation
- Did you know that there are two similar words in Spanish for fruit? Fruto is the generic definition for fruit and is used for the fruit of your labors, as well as the fruit of the womb. Fruta is the actual fruit that we eat. The Spanish (RV) translation of the Bible uses fruto in reference to Genesis 3.
The serpent seed is even more obvious.
- It’s clear that the serpent was NOT a snake. In fact, what animal on the planet can talk and carry on an intelligent conversation?
- Genesis 3:15 says that the serpent has a seed? What is a seed? Here are a few popular translations of the Bible that might make things a little more clear.
- King James Version (KJV): And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed…
- New International Version (NIV): And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers…
- New Living Translation (NLV) And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring…
- Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB): And I will put eivah (enmity) between thee and HaIsha (you and the woman), and between thy zera and her Zera (seed)…
- Modern English Version (MEV): I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring…
- Now that we know the serpent had offspring, where did that offspring go? Here are a few questions.
- Why is the first-born Cain never in the lineage of Adam?
- Genesis 4 and 5
- Chapter 4: Gives Cain’s offspring. Adam is not mentioned as his father.
- Chronicles 1:1: Adam, Sheth, Enosh
- Luke 3: Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
- Who was Cain’s father?
- 1 John 3:12: Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother.
- Why is Adam not the father of all living?
- Immediately after the initial sin of eating the fruit, God instructs the woman on childbearing. Then Adam names his wife “Eve because she was the mother of all living.” This is BEFORE Cain and Abel are born. Knowing this, it’s obvious that Eve had conceived before the conversation with God.
