I’ll be honest – for most of my life, I skimmed through the early chapters of the Book of Genesis – the stories about talking snakes and the “sons of gods” who saw beautiful women and took them as wives. These stories are so strange and describe a world so unlike our own that they appear more like Greek myths than classic biblical stories meant to guide and instruct us.
But the truth is, these strange stories have far more to teach us than I ever realized. Beneath the strangeness lie profound truths as relevant today as they were at the very creation of the world.
We are told almost nothing about the serpent whose evil shrewdness changed the entire course of human history. Fortunately, the serpent’s very name can help us understand the dangerous temptation embodied in this beast.
Nachash, the Hebrew word for serpent, is a combination of two words – “noach” and “chash,” each of which represents a different way the serpent tempts humanity.
“Noach,” Hebrew for “pleasant” or “easy,” represents the temptation to make the easier and more pleasant choice in life. The serpent constantly whispers in our ears: “Relax, don’t push yourself so hard! You can pray or study another time, when you’re not so tired.” Little by little, the serpent lulls us into a spiritual sleep, encouraging us to do what’s expected of us, to be satisfied with yesterday’s accomplishments, and to avoid taking the risks that are essential to growth. If we’re not careful to push back against the temptation of noach, we ultimately become the living dead – people who are physically alive, but spiritually dead.
At the same time, the serpent also tempts us with “chash,” Hebrew for “senses” or “sensations.” External sensations, short-term and artificial but intense physical sensations – this is the other way the serpent tempts us to sin. These intense pleasures are ultimately empty and illusory, leaving only sadness and depression in their wake. But in the moment of temptation, they are extraordinarily powerful.
Throughout the beginning of the Bible, the serpent’s double-edged sword of “noach” and “chash” were too powerful for most people to overcome. The vast majority of humanity became slaves to their own sensations, making adultery, theft and murder the hallmark of their civilization. For these sins of “chash”, God brought a flood to destroy mankind and purify the world.
But even the righteous Noah, the man God chose to preserve in the ark and to become the father of a reborn mankind, fell captive to the serpent. In Hebrew, Noah is “Noach”; though he was a righteous man, he fell prey to the serpent’s other temptation, the temptation of easiness. Yes, Noah was a good man, and this is why he was saved. But tragically, he always followed the path of least resistance. He did as God told him (which is no small thing!), but he did not try to save his society. Instead of teaching them, instead of challenging them and encouraging them to abandon their evil ways, he stayed home in the security of his family. Nor did he cry out to God and beg Him to have mercy on his fellow man. He did as he was told – and nothing more.
It would take ten more generations until a man was born who would show humanity that it is possible to overcome both of the serpent’s temptations. Unlike Noah, Abraham did not hesitate to choose the more difficult path. And unlike the generation of the flood, Abraham did not live a life of shallow, short-term pleasures. He was a man of vision and redemption, the father of the future messiah who inspires billions of people around the world to this day.
I have yet to meet any talking snakes in my life, but the seductions of the serpent – of complacency and sensation – challenge me, and all of us, every day of our lives. He regularly whispers in our ears, tempting us with easy distractions and the lure of instant gratification.
Each day presents us with a choice: Will we follow the path of “noach,” drifting through life on autopilot, or will we awaken to the opportunities for growth and service before us? Will we chase after “chash,” after shallow sensations, or will we strive to cultivate a life rooted in faith, responsibility, and love?
The serpent may be clever, but his promises are illusions. True fulfillment comes not from ease or indulgence, but from living with intention—choosing the harder path that brings us closer to God and others. And in those moments when we resist the serpent’s temptations, we are writing our own small chapters in the story of redemption, following in the footsteps of Abraham and walking toward the divine purpose for which we were created.
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