If hostility generates pain and suffering, why would a good God “put hostility” (Gen. 3:15) between the serpent and the woman and between their offspring? Well, considering that the serpent is Satan (Rev. 12:9), would you really want a relationship with the devil that doesn’t include hostility? Think about it. What would it mean for you to be in a relationship with the darkest force in the cosmos if there was no hostility?
I think we know what this kind of relationship looks like. The greatest evils in history were spawned through people who chose not to be hostile to the serpent. One of the first examples we have in history is that of Cain, who we looked at a couple of posts ago. Cain was in fact the literal seed of the woman. The hope of the reader of Genesis 4 is that Eve’s (the woman’s) seed would be the snake crusher.
But after Yahweh’s warning to Cain about sin (Gen. 4:7–it’s not entirely clear, but I think we’re supposed to connect “sin” here with the serpent of Gen. 3) “crouching” in wait for him—in which God said that Cain must “rule over” sin, Cain was not hostile to sin. Instead, he succumbed to sin. There was no hostility. Cain willingly became a slave to sin. When there is no hostility between mankind and the serpent, evil prevails; Abel was murdered.
It’s interesting that God told Cain that he must “rule over” sin. God made mankind (starting with Cain’s parents) to be rulers (Gen. 1:26, 28) over the earth. While a different Hebrew word is used for “rule” in Genesis 1:26, 28 and 4:7, the idea is similar. Mankind was told to “rule over…every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28). And more than that, their instruction was to “subdue” (Gen. 1:28) the earth, indicating that something in God’s “very good” (Gen. 1:31) cosmos would need subduing.
Step back into Genesis 3 and consider Eve’s encounter with the serpent. While this is before God “put hostility” between the two of them, Adam and Eve’s first mistake was not that they ate from the tree. It was failing to “subdue” and “rule over” the serpent, which was a “beast of the field” (Gen. 3:1). Rather than ruling the serpent, they let a “beast of the field” rule over them.
Had they obeyed God’s command to rule, hostility may have ensued between Eve and the devil before God “put hostility” between them. That wouldn’t have been a bad thing. But there was no hostility in mankind’s first recorded encounter with Satan. The result was that death entered the world through sin (Rom. 5:12). And from that point on, Satan (like sin) became a slavemaster, holding mankind in slavery through the fear of death (Heb. 2:14-15).
So, why would a good God “put hostility” if it causes pain and suffering? A relationship with the devil that doesn’t have hostility in it results in slavery that ends in death. When God “put hostility” between the woman and the serpent, it was an act of kindness and grace leading to eventual restoration and exaltation for humanity, and a judgment of lifetimes of struggle leading to eventual loss for the serpent.
God’s declaration that hostility would exist was part of his speech of judgment to the serpent (Gen. 3:14-15), not to the humans. The putting of hostility was a judgment against the devil for the benefit of humanity. God finishes His speech to the serpent with the promise of future victory for the woman’s offspring over the devil via this hostility.
The original question we asked was, “Why would a good God allow pain and suffering?” The reality we’ve discovered in this post is that, at times, God “puts” pain and suffering (hostility) in the world because it will result in what is ultimately good for those who love Him. Sound familiar (Rom. 8:28)?
But why would a good God allow the serpent in the Garden in the first place? To our modern eyes, it seems pretty bizarre for a talking snake to show up without any prior explanation. So, before we can try to unpack why God would allow the serpent in the Garden, we need to understand why a talking snake doesn’t seem to surprise Eve at all. In fact, it seems like she was right at home with the whole thing.
Up Next: The Problem of Pain: 6. What’s Up with the Talking Snake?
Epic Gospel 