rebellion (first earth age) and, this reference in the Garden of Eden. Don't let anyone tell you different, for Satan naturally wants you to think that this 'serpent' in the Garden is a reptile in the flesh sense, for he is the father of religious 'animism' also, which involves the worship of animals as gods.

     Satan is twisting God's Words around just a little with this verse in Gen 31; God told Adam and Eve that...

 

 Gen.3:1. "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:”

 Satan did not properly quote our heavenly Father. Eve should have noticed this, for it is one of Satan's methods of deception. Don't be naive in thinking this same style of misquoting God's Word isn't still going on today. I assure you, it is, and on purpose by some. Eve is going to be lured into misquoting God next:

Gen 3:2   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 it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.'"

     God said nothing about 'touching' this tree. Eve added the words 'neither shall ye touch it'. What's more, Gen.2:17 has a figure of speech in the Hebrew called a Polyptoton, where 'thou shalt surely die' has special emphasis on it, meaning in the Hebrew: 'dying thou shalt die'.¹ Eve also misquoted God by not including this 'figure', but instead saying 'lest ye die'. So it seems, the stage is set, by both Satan, and Eve not taking God at His Word. This is the condition when we as humans think ourselves smarter than God, believing we can figure things out for ourselves, without Him. Remember, Satan and Eve are supposed to be 'directly' quoting God here. That's why the quotation marks are even supplied by the King James translators.
     So what's this word 'touch' that Eve added to God's quote? The word 'touch' is 'naga' in the Hebrew and it's from a "primitive root; properly, to touch, i.e., lay the hand upon (for any purpose; euphemism, to lie with a woman" (Strong's no. 5060). A euphemism is the usage of a nicer word to describe a more serious act, such as when a child may ask where their uncle is who died, they might be told, "He passed away", instead of, "He's dead". Even the part of the definition for this Hebrew word 'naga' given by Dr. Strong from the Hebrew is a sort of euphemism, with 'to lie with a woman', instead of 'sexual intercourse'.

     Some can keep to the traditional understanding of this act in the Garden concerning the 'apple', but the word apple is not there either in the King James, or the Hebrew manuscripts. If you still wish to choose a lighter meaning behind this word 'naga', like touching with the hand only, so be it, but you probably won't understand many other deeper messages within the rest of God's Word either.

     Those of God's people understanding the deeper Word, and the outer material flesh understanding of The Word also, which most Christians see, should not be bothered by criticism from those who only see with 'flesh eyes'. God hid many deeper messages in His Word which put together the Whole Plan for those who love Him and study His Word in 'spirit and truth', not in the flesh reasoning. There also is no guarantee the deeper messages will be understood with much study only. God makes the decision who is to see, not us. Well; am I possibly putting myself above my fellow Christian brethren? Not at all for I shall never feel worthy of His Grace as a sinner, I see spiritual gifts from God in the sense of 'responsibility', not prestige, power or status. I have no authority of my own self, but am as 'filthy rags' to God, even at my best. The one given many gifts by God has the greater responsibility as a servant to all. This idea of responsibility to service, given