The Genesis account describes how Adam and Eve disobeyed God at the instigation of a snake. Could this be interpreted to suggest that God had made a mistake in his creation? A mistake that would have devastating implications for humanity. The fact that the snake spoke should be noted, and suggests an alternative understanding of the event. There was nothing created in the seven days or eras apart from humans that could speak. The only beings that could were created before the earth was formed, that is, the angels. In fact, throughout the Bible ‘snake’ has been representative of Satan or the Devil (Rev: 12:9, 20:2). Satan is an angel who envied God’s power, tried to usurp the throne of God, and who was thus thrown out of heaven.
Did God ‘put’ the snake in the Garden of Eden?
The Bible does not explain systematically, like a textbook, the events of the Fall (when Adam and Eve turned against God after the snake tempted them). We have the narrative of the first few chapters of Genesis describing Satan as a 'snake' who incited Eve to disobey God. It seems to be suggested in the text that the snake was a created creature like any other animal, so in one respect God did ‘put’ the snake in Eden. Yet, no normal, natural snake speaks. This factor combined with other scripture passages using ‘snake’ as refernce for the Devil suggests that the snake was influenced by another supernatural entity.
The omnipotence of God
Did God ‘put’ Satan in the Garden of Eden? I have mentioned above that the Bible does not give exhaustive detail on this point. The other passages, apart from the opening chapters of Genesis, that refer to the fall of Satan are Isaiah 14:4-21, Ezekiel 28:1-17. These two sections of text are poetical and have more than one meaning. As such there are things that we can know about how and why Satan (the snake) was in the Garden of Eden, but there are aspects of the event that we cannot discover from scripture. Yet scripture is clear on this point: God never intiates evil. Instead this has always been a result of the choices made by the created: angels and humans (James 1:13-14). The Bible provides records of God’s actions in history. It is not written as a theology essay, explaining who God is and how he acts in detailed academic exposition. Nevertheless, within the records of the Bible , God's sovereignty is displayed very clearly, in so-far-as nothing happens that is outside of God's control. This includes the snake’s presence in the Garden of Eden.
God's providence
Does the above mean that God is somehow to blame for the Fall of man? Was it God’s mistake? Within a human context, if someone has complete control over another, the one who is subject to the other has no power to initiate free action. Therefore the one who is in control must ultimately take responsibility for any action taken by the one who is subject. The image that comes to mind is a puppeteer in control of the strings. This is not an analogy that can be transfered to the God of the Bible and his relation to humanity. God is beyond us, and therefore his actions cannot be equated to that of a human, and his ultimate control does not negate our free action. God is at the same time distinct from his creation, and working through it. Human action is very real and effective, therefore each human is accountable for what he/she does.
Human free will and God's providence are not opposed to each other. Many times the Bible represents a scenario where a human freely chooses to act, but the Bible declares that God ultimately governed the outcome of the event (Acts 2:23, 4:27-28, Luke 22:22, Matt 18:7). Therefore there is a paradox which is represented - humans act and choose freely, and are therefore accountable, but God works his purposes in and through the willing free actions of humans. Thus God cannot ever be accused of causing the Fall; humanity chose to reject God, and Satan decided to incite us. We remain accountable.
For a more detailed exposition read: Grudem, Wayne Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Chapter 16: God’s Providence.
But did God make the 'mistake' of not preventing the Fall?
Firstly, because we are beings that are made in the image of God we have the freedom to choose, as I have outlined above. Therefore when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God they had to take responsibility for it. The highest human virtue is love. Part of the essence of love is choice. We need to be free to choose in order to love; and we need to be free to choose in order to do evil. The Fall was caused by our choice to reject God’s governace over our lives.
Secondly, however, God knew that the snake would incite Eve; could he not have stopped it, as he is all powerful? Simply: yes, but realistically, this is a question that is very difficult to answer because it requires information that humanly we do not possess. Such as, God’s thoughts and eternal intentions. How can God not prevent evil and be not partly to blame? I will let Calvin’s words serve as an answer, because he expresses it so well: ‘Let those for whom this seems harsh consider for a little while how bearable their squeamishness is in refusing a thing attested by clear Scriptual proofs because it exceeds their mental capacity’ (Calvin, John. Institutes). The point is this: If God has all the attributes we expect of him he is far beyond our capacity to intellegibly dissect. Paradoxically, however, at the very moment that humanity betrayed God’s law, which he foreknew, God also knew the extremes to which he would go to save humanity from the results of the Fall. This is the very irony of the question: why did God not prevent this evil for our sakes? A result of evil entering creation was the suffering God knew he would undergo for us. The Bible tells us that it is because of his great love for us.
God's plan
From the beginning God had a plan to save people from the Fall, to totally and ultimately defeat evil through the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who willingly went to the cross to suffer in our place because of our rejection of God. At the Fall, when God is cursing the snake he said this: 'I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring, he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heal' (Genesis 3:15). This is a promise that Satan and evil will be trampled under the feet of one man - Jesus Christ.
For more information on Genesis 3:15 see: http://biblescripture.net/First.html
Further Reading
1. Wright, Christopher J H, The God I Don’t Understand, Zondervan, 2008, Chapter 1, 2, 3.
2. Grudem, Wayne, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Inter-Varsity Press, 1994, Chapter 16
