Reluctant Demon (10 page)

We were surprised when Satan called us together to tell us his plan. He never consulted us about anything.

I guess I'm not really sure he ever had plans before. He simply set about to do whatever was on his mind at the moment. He certainly never weighed consequences, nor was he concerned about what any of us might think.

The fact that he was thinking this through and waiting, watching, and planning must certainly mean the stakes were high. Whatever his plan might be, it would be certain to include the destruction of Adam and Eve.

Satan could never corule with anyone. We obediently lined up to hear what he had to say.

"I have a plan to reclaim Earth," Satan announced. "I will tempt Adam and Eve to disobey God."

The demons who were out of Satan's view rolled their eyes and nudged one another until the one at the end of the line ventured a response.

"Uh huh," he said. "Now that is an interesting idea."

More glances and firmer nudging until someone else dared comment.

"Has lord Satan thought about what it might take to tempt people who already have everything they could possibly want?"

That is exactly what I would have asked if I had the nerve. What could he possibly use to tempt someone who lived in a virtual paradise where they lacked nothing?

"I will convince them God has withheld something valuable and I alone can offer it," Satan smirked.

Murmurs of approval circulated among the demons.

No one could guess what it might be that God had not provided, so it was a normal question when someone asked, "What is it you will offer them?"

In a serious voice, Satan responded, "I will tempt them with a piece of fruit."

I bent down, stuffed my hoof into my mouth, and bit down hard. "Chomp, bite, choke, swallow your hoof, but do not chortle. Do not even grin," I warned myself.

The murmuring and nudging started up again. Finally, the demon at the end of the line stepped forward and spoke up. "Fruit, is it? You're going to tempt them with fruit. I see, well that could work."

"That could work," echoed the other demons in mock approval.

"But I wonder, my lord," the demon continued, "did you notice that the garden is full of fruit trees? Of course I don't know anything about it, but fruit as an entice-ment to disobey God? Do you really think so, Master?"

He groveled away before Satan could swing at him.

"Imbecile," Satan roared. "Of course, it is not ordinary fruit. I will offer them fruit from that which is forbidden to them—fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

"They might be curious about it," I mused silently, "but that couldn't possibly be enough to entice them to defy their Creator. How good can fruit be?"

Satan must have been able to read the doubt on our faces when he said, "Watch and see what I will do."

Just that fast, he was flying toward Earth. We crowded up to the edge of second heaven. I was amazed when I saw what he was up to. I had no idea he could do such a thing. As easy as you please, Satan took on the form of a serpent right there at the entrance to Eden.

"Did you know he could shape-shift?" someone asked.

"I didn't know that," came the answer.

"Neither did I," said someone else.

I myself was stunned Satan could assume the form of some other living thing God had made. When could he have learned to do it? He'd been with us the whole time. Amazing! Just when you think you know a person.

I must admit that it was very clever to choose an animal as beautiful as the serpent. I secretly wondered if any of the rest of us had such talent and couldn't wait for an opportunity to try it myself.

I realize that you have no idea how beautiful the serpent was when God made it. It walked upright and had arms and legs like many other animals. It did not have a forked tongue, nor was its bite poisonous. What the serpent was then and what it is now is an object lesson in why one does not want to be the object of God's curse.

We watched as the serpent positioned himself against the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as if it were an ordinary tree. He made it look easy and safe. Nothing bad happened to him as he sat on a low-hanging branch and plucked a piece of fruit from it. His being able to do this was a critical marker as far as I was concerned.

If Satan were able to come in contact with the tree with nothing happening to him, it seemed less likely there was any real danger for the humans either. I wondered why God had made this such a big deal.

Adam and Eve were both working in the garden that day. Satan waited until Adam was some distance away and then called out to Eve. When Eve saw him, she was completely disarmed by how comfortable he was languishing on the tree branch that held so much fear for her.

I think Satan intentionally waited until he could talk to Eve alone, out of earshot from Adam. There was no doubt he was fascinated by her beauty and how different she was from Adam. I must say she was captivating. After their separation into two beings, Satan rarely looked at Adam anymore. But I would often find him leaning over the edge of second heaven staring at Eve.

"Did God really say not to eat of this tree?" he asked.

Clever of him to do that. Satan did not really accuse God of anything right then, not taking the chance of putting her on the defensive. He merely asked a question. And a very good question it was. Then Adam returned to see what was going on, but he said nothing.

He did not seem that concerned that the serpent was talking to Eve. After all, at that time all animals could talk. One of them was always talking to Eve, her being the much better conversationalist of the two.

The animals lost their language after the curse, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Ignoring Adam, who was distracted by a bee flitting about his head, the serpent jumped from the branch and sauntered around the trunk of the tree, pulling off some of its leaves to Eve's complete astonishment. In a soft voice, the serpent said to Eve again, "Did God tell you not to eat from this beautiful tree?"

"Yes. He said we could not eat from it or we would die."

"Now why would God say that? You can see it's harm-less, can't you?" He reached for another ripe piece of fruit and extended his hand to offer it to Eve. Eve took a step back and gasped at such an action.

"No. We cannot eat the fruit. We cannot even touch the tree or we will die."

"Oh, no," I cried. "I knew it! I predicted this would happen!" I ranted in a rare display of emotion as I stomped back and forth behind the line of demons. "I knew Adam would never get it right! W h y did God leave it to him to tell her about the rules of the trees?"

The other demons had no idea what I was talking about and ignored me completely.

Adam, never one for detail, had obviously told Eve not to eat from or touch the tree. God said nothing about touching anything. One rule in the entire universe, and it gets misinterpreted in its very first use.

The serpent grinned and continued to dangle the fruit in front of Eve, who stepped further back, being careful not to accidentally brush up against the fruit. Adam reached out and took her by the arm.

"Uh, Eve," Adam found his voice. "I'm not sure that's what God said."

"What do you mean you're not sure?" she asked. "We are not to eat from the tree or even touch it. That
is
what God said, right?"

"He probably didn't say anything about touching,"

Adam said as he swatted at the bee.

"Adam, pay attention," said Eve as she grabbed his swatting hand and brought him face-to-face. "You need to be very sure about this."

"Yeah, yeah, well, I'm pretty sure. He didn't say anything about touching."

Eve turned away and looked like she might cry. Adam took her by the shoulders and gently turned her around.

"Don't be upset. So much was going on that day. I could have heard God wrong." Adam strained as if trying to remember as he looked at the serpent pulling leaves off the tree. "I guess God must not have said anything about touching, or the serpent would be dead."

Eve did not seem convinced. She said nothing in response and looked at the serpent sheepishly.

The serpent moved slowly toward her, saying, "The tree is right here in your garden. W h y would God care if you ate from it or not?"

Both of them folded their arms, shifted their weight from foot to foot, and looked uncomfortably at each other, then at the serpent, but neither had an answer.

"There can only be one reason," said the serpent as he pulled off more leaves and crushed them between his fingers. "There's a power in the tree God doesn't want you to know about."

"What kind of power?" Adam asked.

"The power to know good and evil. If you eat the fruit from this tree, you will be like God. You will know everything and will never die."

Adam and Eve stepped away and whispered quietly with their backs to the serpent. I listened intently as they talked themselves right into what Satan had wanted them to believe all along: nothing was forbidden. If God had said it was forbidden, then He must have an ulterior motive. Very clever, indeed, I must say. They walked back to where the serpent was, and Eve extended her hand.

"Don't do it!" I shouted into the air, but I knew they were going to do it anyway. The other demons looked at me as if I were addled, but they weren't interested enough to find out why.

The serpent gave Eve the fruit; she took a bite and then gave it to Adam. I would come to be amazed, as history unfurled, how humans got the idea this was Eve's fault. I was there, watching and listening from the first day God gave the rule to Adam while Eve was still a rib. It had to be Adam who gave Eve the information about the tree. How could she have known any other way? No one else heard, so no one can be sure what he said to her.

Maybe Adam did it with good intentions. I've seen other humans do the same sort of thing when warning someone they care about of possible danger. I've heard them overstate the consequences without the slightest hesitation. For example, a parent warns a child not to touch an electrical socket because if he does, he will get electrocuted. Of course, that wouldn't happen from touching a socket. It seems to me it is human nature to embellish when someone's safety is at stake.

"That a girl," Satan said as Eve took a bite of the fruit and gave the rest to Adam. "See?" he chided. "Nothing happened."

Eve looked embarrassed, and I could tell she wondered if Adam could be trusted to hear from God. Their relationship had already changed. She would have never have thought such a thing before the fruit.

The show was over as far as the other demons were concerned. They turned and headed back to Satan's den, slapping one another on the back and celebrating how easy it was for Satan to get Earth back. I knew things weren't over yet, so I stayed around to see what would happen when God showed up, as He was sure to do.

I climbed up on my perch and tried to figure out what the real problem was with what Adam and Eve had done. To be candid, I expected God might think it over and give them a pass. A rational mind would have to conclude this episode did not merit changing the destiny of Earth. Adam and Eve wanted to know the difference between good and evil. So who doesn't? Later on I would hear God tell people a thousand times to flee from evil.

How does one flee from evil if he doesn't know what evil looks like?

They wanted to be like God; again, who doesn't? As time passed, I would hear humans sing about wanting to be more like God, with God liking every note of it. W h y is it fine for future generations to want to be like God, but not them?

Was any of what Satan said to them true? Not really.

Their eyes were opened to things they hadn't paid attention to before, but those things had always been there.

The first thing they saw was their nakedness. They had never been anything but naked. They just hadn't noticed.

I don't know how they saw themselves prior to this, but being naked was apparently a big surprise to them.

They sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. With this new knowledge Satan had promised them, they somehow connected being naked with knowing good and evil. W h o knows?

When they heard the rustling of the trees and felt the coolness of the air, they both took off in different directions and nose-dived into the underbrush. God had arrived.

God called, "Adam, where are you?"

Adam crouched down and did not say a word. I knew how he felt as he hid behind a palm tree, hoping God would not find him. I found myself remembering the sorrow, fear, and self-loathing that overwhelmed me when I realized that by my own ambivalence, I had disobeyed God and separated myself from Him forever.

Why did I listen to Lucifer?

As I heard God call for Adam again, I began to feel sad, hurt, and angry about it. God was actually seeking after this disobedient creature. God had never searched or called out to me after the rebellion. I hadn't really done anything wrong, not like Adam anyway. Adam knew the rule and intentionally disobeyed. I was a victim of circumstances. If God had cared the slightest thing about me, He should have realized it and given me a second chance.

At God's third call, Adam sheepishly stepped from behind the tree. He looked like a tree himself, decked out in his new leaf clothing.

"Adam," God said, "why didn't you come when I called?"

Adam didn't work very hard on his answer. "I heard You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid."

Then God replied, "Who said you were naked? Did you eat from the forbidden tree?"

Adam looked around for Eve and, not seeing her, leaned in and whispered to God, "Yes, but it wasn't my fault. The woman You put here with me made me do it.

She gave me some fruit from the tree and insisted I eat it."

Satan blew his cover as a snake when he roared with delight as he heard what Adam said.

Right then Eve stepped out into the clearing and stood behind Adam. Unaware she was there, Adam continued to explain to God how this was Eve's fault. I could see her face clearly as she listened to Adam accuse her. I'm quite sure that if I had been capable of pity, I would have had it for Eve that day. She was crushed and horrified.