genesis framework part twenty eight

Genesis Framework

GF 28 Genesis 3.14
March 6, 2016
Part 28

Genesis 3:14
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.”

CSM
RawData, Exposition

RawData

Let’s talk about this pictographic letter…

At first it might look like a skinny snow-man on sticks, but it is a letter that existed in ancient Semitic languages.

It no longer exists in the Modern Hebrew language; Modern, that is, since the Babylonian Captivity.

In the Arabic language this letter is called the ghayin and is probably related to the Hebrew word ghah which means "twisted“, and is found in some ancient Semitic inscriptions.

ghah did not actually disappear in the Modern Hebrew language, rather it has been absorbed into the Hebrew letter ayin, transliterated into Greek as g, and pronounced as “g” or “ng”, as in ring.

Evidence exists showing that this ghah was originally a separate letter, but there is very little evidence for reconstructing its exact original pictograph.

Keep this in mind–
the Modern Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 letters, and evidence exists that there were additional letters in the original ancient Semitic and Hebrew alphabet.

One of the Ancient Semitic languages of Canaan was Ugarit.

The ancient Ugarit is almost identical to the Hebrew language of the Bible but, instead of consisting of 22 letters, it has 28 letters.

ghayin (Arabic) or ghah (Hebrew) is the closest candidate for this letter’s pictograph which gets its meaning “twisted” from the functional idea of twisting fibers together in the process of making of a rope.

From this we also discover an association of this letter with the meaning of “goat” from their twisted horns; and just as goats are usually dark in color, so this letter carries the meaning of “dark”.

When I first introduced this letter ghah, I mentioned that it was likely the answer to the problem of having one Hebrew word with two different meanings, A and B; and that this letter ghah was most likely used to form B words which are characteristically “dark” in meaning, such as “crafty” or “subtle” as over against A words such as “naked” formed by the letter ayin.

So, given that the letter ghah can denote meanings that are twisted or dark; let’s look at other examples where one Hebrew word containing the letter ayin has two meanings, A & B.

A with B with

profit goat

to heed to answer

weary darkness

colt city

skin blind

friend bad

to shepherd to break

hair storm

to weave to darken

neck rain

naked crafty

Exposition

Now let’s look at the curse on the Serpent, Genesis 3.14.

Once the Lord had completely exposed the offenses of the covenant servants, He dealt with the Serpent.

By contrast we notice that God did not have to interrogate the Serpent-Satan, his exposure had already become most evident by the thorough testimonies of the two qualified witnesses.

So God proceeded immediately to the judgment word of doom; “You are cursed”.

Genesis 3.14a
So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field;

God placed Satan under an irrevocable curse that was to last until the Day of the final Judgment.

Notice the obvious implication; that as the result of the Fall, a curse upon the lives of all the creatures of the animal kingdom, along with a severe disruption in the order of consecration, was set into place by God.

The description of the curse was figurative in its imagery, constructed by a physical analogy:

Genesis 3.14b

“On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.”

The positional aspect of the physical analogy of Satan as consigned to the dust and going about on his belly, was appropriate to his choice of the serpent as his medium.

This image is not too different from that of Jesus’ consignment of the demons to the swine at the region of the Gadarenes, corresponded to the choice of their medium, just as Satan had himself chosen a serpent medium.

Let me clarify this; it does not appear that it was the serpent who had been consigned to the dust, it was Satan.

Also, there is no evidence to support the notion that the means of mobility of the serpent after the Fall, was in any way different from what it had been prior to the Fall.

We can readily see that this decree of the curse is a perpetually humiliating degradation for Satan.

I’m not sure we as westerners are able to immediately grasp the full sense of the degree of degradation, or the force of the blow that this decree would have had upon Satan.

In the Hebrew mind-set as portrayed in the Scriptures, dust is the most insignificant thing that exists.

Dust was the first of the earth-particles of the world.

Dust is most often used figuratively throughout Scripture:

... of abundance

...of commoness

...of worthlessnass (vanity)

...of the scattered, dispersed

...of self abasement

...of humiliation (lowliness)

... of insult

The Hebrew word for “wrestle”, as found in the episode of Jacob and the Angel, has the literal meaning “to stir up the dust”.

NKJ Genesis 13:16
"And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.

NKJ Genesis 26:15
Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth.

...useless wilderness ground

...dry earth

...dust-particles

...trash

NKJ Genesis 18:27
Then Abraham answered and said, "Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord:

dust ashes

The dark-side of dust is “brimstone”……a sulfurous particulate that readily burns

NKJ Exodus 8:16
So the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.' " Dust is the lowest, but is still useful to a sovereign God.

Why all this fuss over dust?

When you are consigned to the dust—

You are perpetually under the feet of all creatures.

You are a perpetual insult to yourself.

When some animals intend to insult, they butt the head of another.

When a person of the mid-eastern culture intends to insult someone, he says, “That person (name-calling) is to me nothing”, as they simultaneously lift a foot to expose its bottom, and smartly gesture a slap of their hand upon the sole of their shoe. This is the
equivalent of saying, “I place that one under my foot where he belongs!”

That is also why it is offensive for one in that culture to expose the bottom of his shoe toward the face of another; it is to be avoided, lest there be even a suggestion that an insult is meant by it.

This idea is also related to the reason Jesus instructed the disciples to remove even the dust from their sandals on that one occasion, so as not to accept even the most insignificant of offering( tribute) from those who reject Christ; and as symbolic of their need to separate
themselves from the brood of the serpent, whose only real domain is that of the dust of the earth.

The Hebrews threw dust into the air out of frustration, and to demonstrate the meaning of vanity.

By the gesture of throwing dust into the air, a truth is illustrated, that of giving brief life( motion) to the dust of the ground, it signifies that dust only seems to live; and to the distraught, the brevity of the dust-life is symbolic of vanity.

By rapidly returning to the earth from whence it came, any thought suggesting that there might be significance and permanence to the-life-of-the-dust, is just as quickly betrayed.

The Hebrews would also throw dust upon their own head as a gesture serving to demonstrate the lowliness of the place to which they had been brought, as the result of grief, remorse, mourning, repentance, surrender, deep sorrow, bitterness, etc.

There are many references to dust in the Book of Job.

Now we have no difficulty understanding how humiliating it was for Satan to be consigned to a life: “On your belly you shall go”.

But what does this mean?

“And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.”

Let’s approach this question in relationship to God’s original decree to consign all creation to an orderly hierarchy of consecration; with the Godhead at the top and the particulates of the ground (dust) at the bottom.

We have already examined the idea, exemplified by the suzerain-vassal covenant, that from each member at a given level within the order, an implied sacrifice is due to the next highest member in the hierarchical order, as token payment of tribute, expected to be rendered,
according to the provisions of the original creation-covenant.

So, there is a sense that what we eat is available to us at the expense( sacrifice) of a lower member of the order of consecration (aka the “food-chain”).

Also, this kind of sacrifice is symbolic of a payment of tribute to man’s dominion over creation, even though while in a Post-Fall condition, we must obtain this tribute by coercion and the sweat of our brows.

With this in mind, consider the implication that emerges from within the character of God’s decree upon the devil, that “he shall eat dust all the days of his life.”

NKJ Deuteronomy 32:24
They shall be wasted with hunger, Devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction; I will also send against them the teeth of beasts, With the poison of serpents of the dust.

Contrast this with the prophesy of Jerusalem to come…

Isaiah 65:25
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," Says the LORD.

humiliation( sitting or lying in dust, licking dust)

to lick
as in an ox licking up grass. to lick the dust, sign of humiliation.

Conclusion:

Satan’s dominion is over the lowest of all creation, dust.

Although “his brood” is great in quantity; in quality, it is a vast collective of “lickers-of-dust.”

The dust-particulates are the only creation expected to pay tribute to Satan; any other form of creation that would do so, must first be reduced, by being cajoled…

...cajoled:

... lured into a cage

... coaxed with false words

... seduced by flattery

... intoxicated b y self-delusion of greatness

... induced to try evil

... persuaded by soothing words

... decieved into presumed autonomy

... convinced that evil is good

...etc ...etc

Many will be surprised on the Day of Judgment when they discover that it was just as the Word of God says; only the righteousness of Christ is able to save you.All men are sinners and no one can save himself. God is just, so He must punish sin; but He is also merciful, moreover gracious, and offers His Son as the perfect sacrifice in order to purchase a place for you in heaven, which He offers to you as the free gift of eternal life. As we continue to examine man’s earliest duties with regard to the covenant of works, although they can be categorically divided into two distinct types of classes; one in relationship with God, and the other in relationship with fellow man, all covenant stipulations are expressions of the will of the Lord. The law of the covenant is the law of man’s imzage-sonship.

Jesus is God Incarnate

In order to pay the debt of our sins, He came from Heaven, having been sent by the Father, where He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father even unto the shameful death upon the cross in order to pay the debt of your sins.This gift must be received by faith, believing that Jesus’ perfect life and Cross Work was His complete and necessary Atonement for your sins, in your behalf.Faith is a gift that comes by the Power of God the Holy Spirit working in a person’s innermost being. The Holy Spirit has the authority and power to quicken your dead spirit, to make it come to life. If you have not done so before this moment, ask Jesus to forgive you your sins, tell Him you’ve stop trying to be your own savior, and ask Him to come into your life right now, and to give you eternal life. Then, in faith believing, thank Him for the gift that He is giving you, the one He paid for in full in your place, in Jesus’ name, AMEN