WEBVTT - Timeless Wisdom: Weekend Torah Teaching - Genesis 3 0:00:21.500 --> 0:00:25.820 Welcome to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Here thousands of 0:00:25.860 --> 0:00:29.500 hours of Dennis's lectures courses in classic radio programs. Had 0:00:29.500 --> 0:00:39.900 to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles. Go to Dennisprager dot com. 0:00:40.100 --> 0:00:45.740 Ongoing Study of Genesis. We have reached all the way 0:00:45.740 --> 0:00:49.180 to chapter three, so you've only missed two chapters. I 0:00:49.220 --> 0:00:53.300 hope that, my regular class, that you brought some Bibles 0:00:53.300 --> 0:00:55.700 with you. If not, I will read the sentences anyway. 0:00:56.380 --> 0:01:04.060 And it's not a worry one second. Please, I'm I 0:01:04.060 --> 0:01:06.180 announced that after don't forget in the midst of the 0:01:06.260 --> 0:01:09.580 drama of Genesis. Yes, just a. 0:01:11.220 --> 0:01:14.819 H okay. 0:01:16.300 --> 0:01:24.100 Now last week, no last section whenever. That was two 0:01:24.140 --> 0:01:27.380 weeks ago. That's right, two weeks ago. You recall the 0:01:27.460 --> 0:01:31.620 creation of women took place. By the way, I think 0:01:31.660 --> 0:01:35.620 some A word about a subject that is often raised 0:01:35.940 --> 0:01:39.500 is do Genesis one and Genesis two have different creation accounts? 0:01:40.140 --> 0:01:43.140 This is one of the bases by which people frequently 0:01:44.460 --> 0:01:47.740 speak of the what's called a documentary hypothesis. 0:01:48.100 --> 0:01:49.780 Who wrote the Torah is. 0:01:49.740 --> 0:01:55.500 A is one of the great ongoing riddles of both 0:01:55.580 --> 0:01:59.980 religious and non religious people. I don't have an answer 0:01:59.980 --> 0:02:02.540 to that, as I've often said I am intellectually open 0:02:02.580 --> 0:02:05.900 to whatever scholars show me. At the same time, I 0:02:06.020 --> 0:02:09.180 treat it as if it's divine, So there I allow 0:02:09.260 --> 0:02:13.020 my intellect free reign. My intellect is always open to 0:02:13.100 --> 0:02:16.180 reading what scholars write. On the other hand, I do 0:02:16.300 --> 0:02:19.499 not close my religious soul to the divinity of the text. 0:02:20.100 --> 0:02:24.380 I found music is the best analogy that I can give, 0:02:25.020 --> 0:02:27.300 and I've given it frequently because I love music and 0:02:27.340 --> 0:02:31.500 it's helpful. I do not find that I enjoy music 0:02:31.620 --> 0:02:36.220 more the more I study about modulations of keys and 0:02:36.260 --> 0:02:39.820 the use of triads and so on and various works. 0:02:40.820 --> 0:02:44.180 There is a given point I found others may not 0:02:44.460 --> 0:02:47.579 where in my study of music, I enjoyed the music 0:02:47.700 --> 0:02:51.020 less the more I studied how it was written, that 0:02:51.100 --> 0:02:53.540 I ended up seeing e flat instead of hearing a 0:02:53.540 --> 0:02:56.780 gorgeous melody that happened to me. It may not happen 0:02:56.820 --> 0:02:59.019 to you, but it can happen to people. And I'm 0:02:59.020 --> 0:03:01.460 afraid that a lot of scholars of Bible see all 0:03:01.500 --> 0:03:05.420 the notes but don't hear the music. I want to 0:03:05.460 --> 0:03:08.220 know the notes, but I am more interested in the 0:03:08.220 --> 0:03:12.220 final analysis in the music. Do Genesis wanted to conflict 0:03:12.340 --> 0:03:15.740 I don't think so. To the modern mind, we write 0:03:15.780 --> 0:03:20.820 stories as follows and January eighth, the following happened on 0:03:20.900 --> 0:03:25.380 January tenth, This happened in February, the following happened, and 0:03:25.420 --> 0:03:25.940 we go on. 0:03:26.620 --> 0:03:28.900 That's how we moderns write. Now. 0:03:28.940 --> 0:03:31.019 I have no problem with that, But that's not how 0:03:31.100 --> 0:03:33.579 the Torah was written. But whether it is by God 0:03:33.660 --> 0:03:36.100 or by man, that is not how people wrote in 0:03:36.180 --> 0:03:42.260 the ancient world. It was stories without chronological interest. Generally speaking, 0:03:42.820 --> 0:03:45.820 they would give the story and if they had another 0:03:46.060 --> 0:03:49.980 version of the story. Whereas our mind says, look two 0:03:50.100 --> 0:03:51.900 stories that contradict each other. 0:03:52.580 --> 0:03:53.780 That's not how they thought. 0:03:53.820 --> 0:03:56.420 They said, Wait a minute, reality has a great many 0:03:56.460 --> 0:04:01.220 angles to it in some ways, that's more sophisticated. Wouldn't 0:04:01.220 --> 0:04:04.700 you think that it would be interesting to read I 0:04:04.740 --> 0:04:08.180 don't know about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. 0:04:08.260 --> 0:04:11.300 Let's say, and you read it, you read three stories 0:04:11.340 --> 0:04:11.820 about it. 0:04:11.900 --> 0:04:17.340 They each accentuated different details, Lincoln's perspective, John Wilkes booth perspective, 0:04:17.659 --> 0:04:21.219 the country's perspective, just to make up three. Wouldn't that 0:04:21.260 --> 0:04:23.340 be an interesting way of reading about it? I think 0:04:23.380 --> 0:04:26.380 it would illuminate more. But then somebody will say, uh huh. 0:04:26.500 --> 0:04:29.420 You see it couldn't have happened the way it was written, 0:04:29.620 --> 0:04:32.580 because one story gives you this perspective and another gives 0:04:32.659 --> 0:04:35.580 you this. For example, in one case it says, and 0:04:35.700 --> 0:04:38.780 God created Adam male and female. 0:04:38.820 --> 0:04:39.820 He created them. 0:04:40.020 --> 0:04:42.460 Then in the next one you have God created Adam, 0:04:42.740 --> 0:04:46.099 and how is the woman? She doesn't get a name yet, 0:04:46.300 --> 0:04:49.300 how is the woman created? It was created by the way, 0:04:49.300 --> 0:04:51.420 as I pointed out, from his side, not from his 0:04:51.580 --> 0:04:55.940 rib from his side. So people say, you see, it's contradictory, 0:04:56.020 --> 0:05:00.220 But why is that contradictory? One statement is I want 0:05:00.260 --> 0:05:03.180 you to know God, or the author capital a smole 0:05:03.180 --> 0:05:05.339 A is saying, I want you to know that the 0:05:05.420 --> 0:05:08.820 human being is a full human, that there are male 0:05:08.940 --> 0:05:12.380 humans and there are female humans, and they are absolutely equal. 0:05:12.820 --> 0:05:16.460 Now in chapter two, I'll give you the details of 0:05:16.580 --> 0:05:19.820 how it happened. There are scholars who say, you see, 0:05:19.820 --> 0:05:22.900 it's contradictor which one do we listen to? One or 0:05:22.940 --> 0:05:26.219 two shows that there are two different versions here. I 0:05:26.220 --> 0:05:28.339 don't read it that way. It's not a defense of 0:05:28.380 --> 0:05:30.940 the text so much that I'm making as a defense 0:05:30.980 --> 0:05:33.780 of a sophisticated idea that you can get the story 0:05:34.180 --> 0:05:36.779 and you can have two different perspectives, but they're not 0:05:36.860 --> 0:05:40.779 contradictory in any way. Number If number one had said, 0:05:40.820 --> 0:05:44.380 if chapter one had said God created Adam male and female, 0:05:44.420 --> 0:05:47.339 he created them, and he created them at the exact 0:05:47.500 --> 0:05:51.180 same moment, and he never took her from his side, 0:05:51.700 --> 0:05:53.900 and then chapter two said that, you know what, Adam 0:05:54.020 --> 0:05:56.380 was created and then the woman was created from his side. 0:05:56.580 --> 0:05:59.260 So you know what, we have a contradiction. Otherwise, I 0:05:59.300 --> 0:06:02.380 don't see it as a contradiction. Thanks Ron, I don't 0:06:02.380 --> 0:06:06.260 see it as a contradiction. Just as more information. Remember, 0:06:06.700 --> 0:06:11.620 Torah means teacher. It does not mean history. Torah means 0:06:11.780 --> 0:06:15.660 it comes from the Hebrew verb lejorote, which is to teach. 0:06:16.180 --> 0:06:18.140 If you look at it that way, I think it's 0:06:18.180 --> 0:06:21.300 a much better way of understanding what's going on. Now. 0:06:23.540 --> 0:06:27.779 The last thing we learned in chapter two is that. 0:06:29.700 --> 0:06:30.380 Adam and his. 0:06:30.620 --> 0:06:36.380 Wife were naked, but they weren't embarrassed by the fact. 0:06:37.500 --> 0:06:41.099 Who is not embarrassed by nudity? The answer is, kids, 0:06:42.900 --> 0:06:46.779 what I said last week and will very very basically recapitulate, 0:06:46.940 --> 0:06:48.700 is I think you have in the story of the 0:06:48.740 --> 0:06:51.539 Garden of Eden, and I have always believed this. I 0:06:51.580 --> 0:06:53.820 think you have the story in the garden of Eden 0:06:53.940 --> 0:06:54.660 of every. 0:06:54.420 --> 0:06:55.020 One of us. 0:06:55.860 --> 0:06:58.260 Every one of us starts out in the garden of Eden, 0:06:58.700 --> 0:07:02.020 and we grow up. However, a lot of people want 0:07:02.060 --> 0:07:04.180 to stay in the garden of Eden. A lot of 0:07:04.220 --> 0:07:07.020 people don't want to grow up. In fact, the more 0:07:07.060 --> 0:07:10.340 I grow up or the older I get, some will 0:07:10.340 --> 0:07:13.420 debate whether I grow up that much. That's a separate issue. 0:07:13.420 --> 0:07:17.540 You already heard I was controversial. But the more I 0:07:17.620 --> 0:07:21.180 do get older, the more I realize that that's what 0:07:21.260 --> 0:07:22.020 life is about. 0:07:22.100 --> 0:07:22.740 Growing up. 0:07:23.300 --> 0:07:25.380 And of course is every one of us who is 0:07:25.420 --> 0:07:27.420 an adult knows. But this is one of the great 0:07:27.460 --> 0:07:30.700 secrets that children don't know, is that getting older and 0:07:30.740 --> 0:07:33.740 growing up have little to do with each other. It 0:07:33.780 --> 0:07:35.180 is one of the you know what I knew I 0:07:35.220 --> 0:07:38.100 was an adult when I met immature fifty year old, 0:07:39.580 --> 0:07:41.860 because when you're a kid, you just think, oh, fifty 0:07:42.020 --> 0:07:46.020 forty thirty, they're adults, they're mature because they got older. 0:07:46.420 --> 0:07:48.540 And then as you get older, you realize that's not 0:07:48.580 --> 0:07:51.260 true at all. There are people who never grow up, 0:07:51.860 --> 0:07:53.780 who don't want to grow up. That's the Peter Pan 0:07:53.900 --> 0:07:56.780 legend if you will. Women accuse a lot of men 0:07:56.860 --> 0:07:58.700 of doing that, for which reason a lot don't want 0:07:58.700 --> 0:08:02.060 to commit, because commitment takes it For men, in particular, 0:08:02.340 --> 0:08:07.500 an active of renunciation of part of their childishness, of 0:08:07.620 --> 0:08:11.580 gallivanting around the world as a kid forever, wandering from 0:08:11.780 --> 0:08:17.180 flower to flower. It's not I'm using a be analogy. Please, 0:08:18.460 --> 0:08:22.460 it was. Take it as an insult to women who 0:08:22.660 --> 0:08:26.860 be compared to flowers. But that's really what is involved 0:08:26.860 --> 0:08:29.500 in life, I am convinced is the act of growing up, 0:08:30.340 --> 0:08:36.580 and growing up means shedding a lot of the innocence 0:08:36.780 --> 0:08:40.660 it does. It's shedding innocence. It doesn't mean becoming coarse, 0:08:41.100 --> 0:08:43.500 you can do that when you shed innocence, but it 0:08:43.540 --> 0:08:46.819 does mean shedding the innocence of our childhood. 0:08:46.980 --> 0:08:50.339 This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this. 0:08:55.820 --> 0:09:00.460 Now back to more of Dennis Brager's Timeless Wisdom. 0:09:00.860 --> 0:09:04.220 They were naked and didn't even know it. They weren't 0:09:04.220 --> 0:09:07.300 embarrassed by it at all. Everything was natural. They had 0:09:07.380 --> 0:09:10.260 no pain, they had no suffering, and as I pointed 0:09:10.340 --> 0:09:13.420 out last time, they were bored out of their mind. 0:09:14.260 --> 0:09:16.860 That is what I believe the text is in the 0:09:16.980 --> 0:09:21.100 final analysis, really wanting to tell us that if we 0:09:21.260 --> 0:09:26.660 could have a beautiful, beautiful life freed of all pain 0:09:27.300 --> 0:09:31.819 in the garden of Eden, or know it all, really 0:09:32.020 --> 0:09:35.340 have it all in the sense of understanding the nitty 0:09:35.380 --> 0:09:40.060 gritty of life with the ultimate nitty gritty, the sexual 0:09:40.140 --> 0:09:44.020 nitty gritty, we would opt for the pain and growing 0:09:44.140 --> 0:09:50.380 up and non innocence over no pain and innocence. That's 0:09:50.460 --> 0:09:53.540 what we would do. That's what I think. The story 0:09:53.620 --> 0:09:56.860 is here to tell us not so much that Adam sinned, 0:09:57.020 --> 0:10:00.780 though that is an element obviously, but rather that this 0:10:00.980 --> 0:10:04.980 is what it is to be human. Listen, the only 0:10:05.340 --> 0:10:09.260 thing that Adam was told not to do. It's amazing. 0:10:10.020 --> 0:10:13.260 He could do anything he wanted except one thing. Eat 0:10:13.340 --> 0:10:16.300 from the Tree of knowledge of good and bad. It's 0:10:16.340 --> 0:10:19.860 the only thing he couldn't do. And lo and behold, 0:10:19.900 --> 0:10:23.420 it's exactly what he did, by the way, which proves 0:10:23.580 --> 0:10:26.740 that eating from the tree is not what gave man 0:10:26.820 --> 0:10:30.500 the ability to choose between right and wrong. We had 0:10:30.500 --> 0:10:35.460 that ability prior to eating from the tree. What there was, however, 0:10:35.780 --> 0:10:40.780 was a contradistinction between two trees, the tree of knowledge 0:10:40.820 --> 0:10:45.140 of good and bad and the tree of life. And basically, 0:10:45.179 --> 0:10:47.420 what God is saying, and what the text is saying, 0:10:47.500 --> 0:10:50.339 is this, human beings, you have your choice. You can 0:10:50.380 --> 0:10:53.300 eat from the tree of immortality, or you can eat 0:10:53.300 --> 0:10:55.780 from the tree of knowledge of good and bad. But 0:10:55.860 --> 0:11:00.140 you can't eat from both. You want to be immortal, fine, 0:11:00.660 --> 0:11:04.500 go ahead, but you cannot then be fully human. You 0:11:04.540 --> 0:11:08.380 want to be fully human, then you die. That's what 0:11:08.420 --> 0:11:12.460 God said. You eat from that tree and you'll die, Okay. 0:11:12.660 --> 0:11:17.059 So that brings us to chapter three. Chapter three begins 0:11:17.820 --> 0:11:21.620 with the serpent being declared or the snake, or the 0:11:21.620 --> 0:11:26.220 serpent being declared the most cunning of all the animals, 0:11:26.580 --> 0:11:29.820 of all the wild animals that God made. And he 0:11:29.940 --> 0:11:33.900 said to said to the woman, which is interesting in 0:11:33.940 --> 0:11:35.820 and of itself. This whole thing, by the way, is 0:11:36.060 --> 0:11:38.860 very difficult stuff. That's why, as I pointed out when 0:11:38.900 --> 0:11:41.100 I first gave it, I waited a long time to 0:11:41.140 --> 0:11:44.860 teach this. I have taught Deuteronomy, I have taught Exodus, 0:11:44.900 --> 0:11:47.780 and I would never touch the beginning chapters of Genesis. 0:11:48.380 --> 0:11:51.939 It's still it's still in some ways puzzling, But I'm 0:11:51.980 --> 0:11:55.780 trying to sort out the puzzle with you. Well, first 0:11:55.780 --> 0:12:00.100 of all, why is the serpent used clearly. I don't 0:12:00.100 --> 0:12:03.940 know how clearly is appropriate a word. But what we 0:12:04.060 --> 0:12:06.580 have here again, and those of you who have been 0:12:06.620 --> 0:12:09.740 taking this with me, no much of the beginning of 0:12:09.820 --> 0:12:15.140 Genesis is to destroy polytheism. It's to destroy the gods 0:12:15.140 --> 0:12:18.580 of the of ancient human beings, of ancient man. One 0:12:18.580 --> 0:12:22.180 of them was the serpent. The serpent was a very 0:12:22.220 --> 0:12:26.820 revered symbol, as you can see in almost all ancient pictures. 0:12:27.620 --> 0:12:29.940 God uses the serpent. 0:12:29.580 --> 0:12:33.820 Here to chastise him, just as by the way, all 0:12:33.900 --> 0:12:36.540 the ten, well nine of the ten plagues against the 0:12:36.580 --> 0:12:41.420 Egyptians were against Egyptian gods. The first plague was against 0:12:41.460 --> 0:12:43.180 the Nile, which was an Egyptian god. 0:12:43.220 --> 0:12:44.220 It was turned to blood. 0:12:44.620 --> 0:12:48.580 The ninth plague was against Ra, the sun god darkness. 0:12:50.900 --> 0:12:54.820 What most Jews and non Jews do not realize about 0:12:54.980 --> 0:12:59.860 Judaism is that its real intent was to destroy Polytheism, 0:13:00.300 --> 0:13:03.860 is to destroy the worship of false gods. We have 0:13:03.940 --> 0:13:06.060 plenty of false gods today. But that brings me to 0:13:06.140 --> 0:13:09.540 an entirely different subject, which you can get it right 0:13:09.540 --> 0:13:14.660 outside the room afterwards. But in the meantime, this issue 0:13:14.700 --> 0:13:17.460 here is the destruction of false gods. One of them 0:13:17.820 --> 0:13:21.940 here being the serpent. Okay, so the serpent speaks to 0:13:21.980 --> 0:13:24.540 the woman. First question is why didn't the serpent speak 0:13:24.580 --> 0:13:28.780 to man? Good question, isn't it? Why didn't the serpent 0:13:28.820 --> 0:13:31.300 go to the man? Why did the serpent go to 0:13:31.340 --> 0:13:35.620 the woman? I don't have a complete answer, but it's 0:13:35.660 --> 0:13:39.220 the sort of question that makes reading this stuff come alive. 0:13:40.179 --> 0:13:43.339 When I learned this stuff as a kid in Yeshiva, 0:13:43.460 --> 0:13:45.820 that was the way we were taught to learn, and 0:13:45.860 --> 0:13:49.420 it's been the greatest, single, greatest vehicle of learning in 0:13:49.460 --> 0:13:53.140 my life. I read newspaper, articles, books and Torah in 0:13:53.220 --> 0:13:56.180 that way. Why did the author say X? And not? 0:13:56.340 --> 0:14:01.340 Why why didn't the serpent go to Adam? Well, you 0:14:01.380 --> 0:14:03.700 could have any number of thoughts that could come to 0:14:03.740 --> 0:14:05.620 the mind. First is he thought he'd have a better 0:14:05.740 --> 0:14:07.940 chance with the woman. I think that that's the most 0:14:07.980 --> 0:14:10.820 obvious answer that one might say. Is that a put 0:14:10.860 --> 0:14:16.300 down of women, that women are more easily talked into 0:14:16.380 --> 0:14:20.220 the wrong thing? Well, I don't think so, in light 0:14:20.380 --> 0:14:25.340 of how of what was done with Adam. I mean, 0:14:25.340 --> 0:14:28.460 when you will see how Adam got to eat from 0:14:28.460 --> 0:14:33.140 that tree, you can truly leave that text saying men 0:14:33.740 --> 0:14:38.260 are silly putty. I mean nothing in comparison to what 0:14:38.340 --> 0:14:41.660 the woman he put up no fight whatsoever is you'll see. 0:14:41.940 --> 0:14:43.980 So I'm not sure it's a statement that women are 0:14:43.980 --> 0:14:49.380 more easily changed or persuaded to do the wrong thing. 0:14:50.020 --> 0:14:54.940 What might have been is she was not instructed Adam was. 0:14:55.540 --> 0:14:59.460 She got it second hand. That's what I think is 0:14:59.500 --> 0:15:02.620 going on here, Rather than so much that the woman 0:15:02.740 --> 0:15:06.780 is a more persuadable creature than the man. That might 0:15:06.820 --> 0:15:08.820 be it might have been an element. I don't deny it, 0:15:08.860 --> 0:15:12.140 but I think the more obvious thing is God's instruction 0:15:12.300 --> 0:15:14.700 of not eating from the tree of knowledge of good 0:15:14.700 --> 0:15:17.940 and bad was given to Adam. It was not given 0:15:17.980 --> 0:15:21.340 to his wife. I'm not saying e because we don't 0:15:21.340 --> 0:15:23.340 know her as yet. That's the reason I'm not. I'm 0:15:23.340 --> 0:15:26.740 not giving her the name yet. That's my that's my suspicion. 0:15:26.940 --> 0:15:29.460 So the serpent speaks to her, and I'll read to 0:15:29.500 --> 0:15:32.380 you from the English translation I have, which is, none 0:15:32.420 --> 0:15:36.460 of them are great, they're just relatively good. And the 0:15:36.700 --> 0:15:39.220 uh and he said to the woman yep. 0:15:39.900 --> 0:15:43.860 Well it doesn't say yep, mind says yay. 0:15:44.340 --> 0:15:49.340 Now I prefer yep yea yay half God said, didn't 0:15:49.420 --> 0:15:51.620 God say you shall not eat of any tree of 0:15:51.660 --> 0:15:52.180 the garden? 0:15:52.660 --> 0:15:53.180 Already? 0:15:53.340 --> 0:15:59.060 This is really it's priceless. It is just priceless. The 0:15:59.140 --> 0:16:05.060 serpent is a major liar. He goes to the woman, 0:16:05.340 --> 0:16:08.300 or it goes to the woman and says, hey, didn't 0:16:08.740 --> 0:16:12.300 didn't God say you can't eat of any tree? He's 0:16:12.380 --> 0:16:15.940 totally made up. Do you see the what the serpent 0:16:16.020 --> 0:16:19.420 is trying to do here? If he would have said, 0:16:19.460 --> 0:16:23.580 if the serpent would have said what God really said, 0:16:24.060 --> 0:16:26.900 she wouldn't have been persuaded because she would have realized 0:16:27.420 --> 0:16:33.660 how reasonable God's demand was. But the serpent makes up something. 0:16:33.700 --> 0:16:36.460 Why did God say eat of all the trees? He 0:16:36.580 --> 0:16:40.140 actually said that God eat of all the trees except 0:16:40.180 --> 0:16:45.260 for one. Here comes the serpent and says, hey, didn't 0:16:45.260 --> 0:16:47.980 God say don't eat from every tree in the garden? 0:16:48.300 --> 0:16:52.540 Totally inverted what God had said. People do that all 0:16:52.580 --> 0:16:55.340 the time. In order to get people to do something wrong, 0:16:56.180 --> 0:16:59.460 to violate a law, they will exaggerate what the laws 0:16:59.500 --> 0:17:04.380 are to make them seem absurd. So he's delegitimizing already. 0:17:04.820 --> 0:17:07.460 That's another reason, by the way, that I believe that 0:17:07.540 --> 0:17:11.619 the serpent went to the woman and not Adam, because 0:17:12.340 --> 0:17:18.020 she didn't hear the actual directions, but rather he did 0:17:18.300 --> 0:17:21.340 so he could confuse the serpent can confuse her. So 0:17:21.460 --> 0:17:26.580 didn't God say, you can't eat from all the trees 0:17:26.580 --> 0:17:30.619 of the garden. So verse two, and the woman said 0:17:30.619 --> 0:17:32.819 to the serpent, of the fruit of the trees of 0:17:32.820 --> 0:17:35.499 the garden we can eat. But of the fruit of 0:17:35.540 --> 0:17:37.419 the tree which is in the midst of the garden, 0:17:37.459 --> 0:17:40.659 God said, do not eat of it, neither touch it, 0:17:40.939 --> 0:17:46.980 lest you die. Okay, she got it all wrong. The 0:17:46.979 --> 0:17:49.100 only part she got right was that God said you 0:17:49.500 --> 0:17:52.259 eat of all the trees. Why did she get wrong? 0:17:52.300 --> 0:17:54.939 Anybody realized what she got wrong? Why did she say 0:17:54.939 --> 0:17:58.419 here that has nothing to do with what God instructed touching? 0:17:58.459 --> 0:18:01.899 He never said don't touch it. She got it all wrong. 0:18:03.179 --> 0:18:06.339 It's like telephone. What we have here is that proverbial 0:18:06.379 --> 0:18:10.500 game of telephone, wherein I tell you something, you tell 0:18:10.580 --> 0:18:12.499 somebody else something, and by the end of it it 0:18:12.540 --> 0:18:16.340 is unrecognizable all God said. God really is getting a 0:18:16.379 --> 0:18:20.179 bad rap here. He sounds like he's a jerk. The 0:18:20.219 --> 0:18:22.659 serpent makes them sound like a jerk, and so does 0:18:22.659 --> 0:18:25.340 the woman. Don't touch it all he said was don't 0:18:25.340 --> 0:18:27.819 eat of it, and the serpent says, you can't do 0:18:27.899 --> 0:18:30.539 it of any of the trees. So God gets a 0:18:30.580 --> 0:18:35.379 bad rap, as it were. Now, Also, I don't have 0:18:35.459 --> 0:18:38.219 an answer for this, but there's a very interesting thing here. 0:18:38.820 --> 0:18:41.299 She said the tree in the middle of the garden. 0:18:41.340 --> 0:18:43.260 Why didn't she say the tree of knowledge of good 0:18:43.300 --> 0:18:47.780 and bad? Interesting, isn't it? Because I'll tell you why 0:18:47.820 --> 0:18:50.979 it's interesting. If you look at verse chapter two, verse nine, 0:18:51.859 --> 0:18:54.299 the tree that is described as in the middle of 0:18:54.340 --> 0:18:58.459 the garden is the tree of life. I don't have 0:18:58.459 --> 0:19:01.139 an answer to that, but you have to admit that 0:19:01.139 --> 0:19:06.299 that's pretty interesting. The words cannot have been, you know, 0:19:06.859 --> 0:19:14.699 erroneously thrown in it's they're too precise. The tree of knowledge, 0:19:14.820 --> 0:19:17.619 the tree of life is described. 0:19:17.100 --> 0:19:18.619 As the tree in the middle of the garden. 0:19:19.100 --> 0:19:22.060 And now she's telling the serpent we can't eat or 0:19:22.179 --> 0:19:24.019 touch of the tree in the middle of the garden. 0:19:24.820 --> 0:19:27.739 So she got it all wrong. She identified the tree wrong. 0:19:28.540 --> 0:19:31.339 She said that we can't touch it, and the serpent 0:19:31.379 --> 0:19:34.299 got wrong. As I said in his original question. 0:19:34.699 --> 0:19:39.340 Okay, this episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this. 0:19:44.820 --> 0:19:50.099 Now back to more of Dennis prager's timeless wisdom. 0:19:50.780 --> 0:19:58.019 Next verse number were three. But of the fruit of 0:19:58.020 --> 0:19:59.580 the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, 0:19:59.619 --> 0:20:02.060 God said, do not eat of it, nor touch it, 0:20:02.179 --> 0:20:04.580 lest you diverse four. And the serpent said to the woman, 0:20:05.379 --> 0:20:07.780 you won't surely die. 0:20:08.139 --> 0:20:08.259 No. 0:20:08.260 --> 0:20:14.059 Now that's interesting. I wonder how he knew. I'm very serious. 0:20:14.060 --> 0:20:16.820 It is an interesting question. How did he know that? 0:20:17.260 --> 0:20:19.780 I don't have an answer, but you gotta admit it 0:20:19.820 --> 0:20:23.980 does make it. Serpents sound fairly impressive. Maybe that's why 0:20:23.979 --> 0:20:27.020 it's called the most cunning of the animals. Who knows, 0:20:27.060 --> 0:20:31.619 Maybe he figured it out. What exactly will happen? Anyway, 0:20:31.979 --> 0:20:35.020 that's what he says. For God knows that the day 0:20:35.100 --> 0:20:37.979 you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and 0:20:38.020 --> 0:20:42.979 you'll be like God, knowing good and evil. This is 0:20:43.139 --> 0:20:48.179 very heavy stuff. Okay, what is the serpent doing here? 0:20:49.699 --> 0:20:54.820 The serpent is doing something critically important for us. Remember, 0:20:54.899 --> 0:20:57.580 you got to read it always. What do I learn 0:20:57.619 --> 0:21:01.300 from this? Or you're not understanding what the thing was 0:21:01.300 --> 0:21:08.219 written for? What whom is the serpent now blaming for 0:21:08.340 --> 0:21:08.979 this law? 0:21:10.379 --> 0:21:10.780 God? 0:21:12.139 --> 0:21:16.539 The serpent is doing a very interesting thing. He's saying 0:21:16.699 --> 0:21:22.220 to her, you got this law from God because God 0:21:22.580 --> 0:21:28.580 needs the law, not because you do. Is that clear 0:21:28.580 --> 0:21:32.740 to you? He's saying. The serpent is saying, he's afraid 0:21:33.179 --> 0:21:35.580 the day you eat it, you'll be like him. You'll 0:21:35.580 --> 0:21:39.059 know good and evil just like God knows. So he's afraid. 0:21:39.300 --> 0:21:43.260 That's why he gave you the law. Miss That's what 0:21:43.340 --> 0:21:48.260 the serpent is saying. If you would understand that, then 0:21:48.300 --> 0:21:51.459 you would realize it's not for your sake. I can't 0:21:51.500 --> 0:21:54.259 tell you how important this is, because a lot of 0:21:54.300 --> 0:21:59.820 people think that laws, religious laws are given for God's sake, 0:22:00.899 --> 0:22:07.740 and that immediately renders them. I believe unworthy of being followed. 0:22:10.619 --> 0:22:15.419 Every law, any religious law, to be worth its salt, 0:22:15.899 --> 0:22:16.899 has to be given. 0:22:16.780 --> 0:22:19.619 For our benefit, not for God's benefit. 0:22:20.459 --> 0:22:22.980 If you are told in Judaism to keep the Sabbath, 0:22:23.340 --> 0:22:26.100 you are not told to keep the Sabbath for God's sake. 0:22:27.139 --> 0:22:30.499 You are told to keep it for your sake. God 0:22:30.659 --> 0:22:34.100 can't be made happy or sad, as it were, through 0:22:34.179 --> 0:22:38.059 a law. They are given for us. This law was 0:22:38.100 --> 0:22:42.100 given for us, not for God's sake. But the serpent 0:22:42.139 --> 0:22:45.259 turns it around. He is worried if you do this, 0:22:45.780 --> 0:22:49.499 So the law's not for you, madam, it's for God. 0:22:51.739 --> 0:22:54.739 Now you know why it begins verse one, and the 0:22:54.820 --> 0:22:59.139 serpent was very cunning. Now you realize how inverted everything is. 0:22:59.500 --> 0:23:03.020 First it gives you a ridiculous law, don't eat from 0:23:03.419 --> 0:23:06.619 any of the tree trees. Then he gives you. Then 0:23:07.020 --> 0:23:09.660 when we understand the real law he gave you, it's 0:23:09.739 --> 0:23:13.459 obvious that it's solely given for God's sake, not for 0:23:13.580 --> 0:23:13.980 your own. 0:23:16.899 --> 0:23:19.379 By the way, what does knowing good and bad mean? 0:23:19.459 --> 0:23:21.459 Or good and evil? What is the tree of knowledge 0:23:21.500 --> 0:23:25.219 of good and evil mean? The more that I have 0:23:26.020 --> 0:23:28.419 delved into this, the more and the more I look 0:23:28.419 --> 0:23:31.699 at where tov varah, good and bad are listed together 0:23:31.780 --> 0:23:36.499 as a unit in the Bible, it generally means everything, 0:23:37.540 --> 0:23:40.819 knowledge of everything. In other words, for we have it 0:23:40.859 --> 0:23:43.459 in English where we would say, well, you know, he knows, 0:23:43.580 --> 0:23:46.219 he knows the pros and the cons. If you know 0:23:46.260 --> 0:23:48.859 the pros and the cons of something, you really know it. Well, right, 0:23:49.459 --> 0:23:52.139 you got to know both sides. That's what it really means, 0:23:52.260 --> 0:23:56.019 knowing both sides. That's a that would be the tree 0:23:56.060 --> 0:24:00.340 of knowledge of both sides would probably be the most 0:24:00.540 --> 0:24:04.899 accurate translation, not literally accurate, but in explaining what it's 0:24:04.979 --> 0:24:08.579 what it involves. So it's the tree of knowledge of 0:24:08.619 --> 0:24:11.979 everything of both sides. You will know, you will know 0:24:12.060 --> 0:24:13.499 them if you eat there now. 0:24:13.699 --> 0:24:14.259 Verse six. 0:24:17.459 --> 0:24:22.780 Uh, by the way, just I'm sorry, I'm five. We 0:24:22.859 --> 0:24:26.699 have here a classic presentation of the way all of 0:24:26.780 --> 0:24:31.019 us tend to do what's wrong. First we would overstate 0:24:31.060 --> 0:24:35.379 the prohibition, then knock the motives of the pro of 0:24:35.820 --> 0:24:39.739 whoever prohibited it, and then realize and then say, I 0:24:39.780 --> 0:24:44.779 won't really suffer from it. It's almost like, for example, 0:24:46.580 --> 0:24:51.460 with drugs. With narcotics, people will say people who will 0:24:51.540 --> 0:24:54.820 use it will say, well, you know, they just banned. 0:24:54.820 --> 0:24:57.779