The Serpent and the Crime

Lesson Objective: Understand that the serpent in the story of the Fall represents Lucifer the angel and that the eating of the fruit is a representation of an inappropriate sexual relationship.

Divine Principle Reading

The serpent described in the Bible was able to converse with people. It caused the Fall of humans, who are spiritual beings. Furthermore, the serpent knew the Will of God, which strictly forbade human beings to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is compelling evidence that the being which the serpent symbolizes was a spiritual being.

We are left with the conclusion that the spiritual being represented by the serpent was originally created with a good purpose, but later fell and became Satan.

What kind of spiritual being in God’s creation could have conversed with people, understood the Will of God, and lived in heaven? What kind of being, even after it had fallen and become degraded to an evil being, could transcend time and space to dominate the human soul? There are no beings endowed with such characteristics other than angels.

Like all beings, angels were created by God. God created them prior to any other creation. God created angels to be His retainers, who would assist Him in creating and sustaining the universe. Because God created us as His children and gave us dominion over all creation,37(Gen. 1:28) we are meant to rule over the angels as well. It is written in the Bible that we have the authority to judge the angels.38(I Cor. 6:3) Many who communicate with the spirit world have witnessed hosts of angels escorting the saints in Paradise. These observations illustrate the fact that angels have the mission to minister to human beings.

Activity: The Angels

  1. Explain:
    1. The serpent symbolized in the Garden of Eden is actually the angel Lucifer. Which means Lucifer was the being who tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden.
    2. Angels were created by God before creation to help him do the work of creating.
    3. Human beings are meant to be in charge of the angelic world as well as the physical and spiritual world.
  2. Have a brief discussion on our current perceptions of angels.
    1. What are angels?
    2. What is their purpose and their involvement in our lives?
  3. Watch a few video clips to demonstrate how we perceive the role of angels in our life:
    1. Angels in the Outfield Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wok7pG9_vX8 It’s a Wonderful Life
      1. Angel Second Class: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fIrXo0raaU
      2. Careful What You Wish For: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_CwatXdxUA
      3. A Great Gift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNQ76UyurLA Back to Reality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u56OqFjs1dg  
  1. Explain the Unificationist understanding of Angels:
    1. Angels are part of the spiritual aspect of God’s creation, they have never lived an earthly life.
    2. They are different from the spirits of human beings because of their purpose in creation, which is to assist God and serve human beings.
    3. Angels need to be summoned because they do not intervene without a request from us, an mediator, or God.
    4. Angels grow and mature through performing their service.
  2. Read aloud the types of Angels that can come to our aide according to the book “Circle of Angels” by Nora M. Spurgin:
    1. Guiding angels: bringing inspiration, truth, and wisdom.
    2. Protecting angels: guarding, protecting and serving as a shield from the evils of the spiritual world and the dangers of the physical world.
    3. Comforting angels: ministering to those in spiritual or physical pain, and to those who are grieving, struggling, depressed, or frustrated.
    4. Angels of mercy: attending those who are suffering in poverty and pain.
    5. Peace angels: visiting areas of conflict to inspire resolution, and bringing an atmosphere of harmony.
    6. Angels of glory: glorifying God and carrying thoughts of praise to heaven from earth.
    7. Angels of hope: bringing hope to the hopeless.
    8. Angels of virtue: assisting in the development of character.
    9. Angels of happiness: bringing joyful energy; helping us find happiness in the simple things of life.
    10. Angels of encouragement: encouraging those who need a bit of gentle prodding to keep on growing.
    11. Angels of love: nurturing the energy of love which is giving and unselfish.
    12. Angels of grace: bringing the healing touch of grace and the ability to forgive oneself.
    13. Angels of truth: guiding in the understanding of universal laws and truths of the universe.
    14. Healing angels: mending a wounded or diseased body or spirit.
  3. Call on Your Angel:
    1. Take a few minutes of quiet meditation to center ourselves.
    2. Choose an endeavor, challenge or aspect of our life that we would like assistance with. Youth may reflect on paper, pray or meditate.
    3. Pick the type of angel you would like to receive assistance from the list above.
    4. Write this request on a small piece of paper.
      1. When finished writing, punch a small hole on the paper and loop a medium sized string through the hole so that it can hang like an ornament.
    5. Go outside and form a circle around a tree. Pray out loud and ask the Angels to come to our aide in these aspects of our life.
    6. Begin singing a holy song, such as Oh Light of Grace, and ask people to hang their prayers on a branch of the tree.
    7. Offer a final prayer of gratitude and thanks to the angels.

Concluding Point: True Parents have elucidated the meaning of the serpent in the Garden of Eden as a representation of Lucifer, the angel. They have also taught us the true purpose of angels which is to serve God and human beings. We have the ability to call on them to aide us in our life endeavors. 

Divine Principle Reading:

And the angels that did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling have been kept by him in eternal chains in the nether gloom until the judgment of the great day; just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. -Jude 6-7

From this passage we can infer that the angel fell as a result of an illicit sexual relationship. Fornication is a crime which cannot be committed alone. With whom did the angel commit the illicit sexual act in the Garden of Eden? In order to unveil this mystery, let us examine what kind of sin the human beings committed.

We read that before they fell, Adam and Eve were both naked, and were not ashamed.19(Gen. 2:25) After the Fall, however, they felt ashamed of their nakedness and sewed fig leaves together into aprons to cover their lower parts.20(Gen. 3:7) If they had committed a crime by eating some actual fruit from a tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then they certainly would have covered their hands or mouths instead. Adam and Eve’s sexual parts were the source of their shame because they were the instruments of their sinful deed.

In the world before the human Fall, what act would one be willing to carry out even at the clear risk of one’s life? It could be nothing else but the act of love. God’s purpose of creation, described in the blessings “be fruitful and multiply,”22(Gen. 1:28)can be achieved only through love. Accordingly, from the viewpoint of God’s purpose of creation, love should be the most precious and sacred act. But because the sexual act was the very cause of the Fall, people often regard it with shame and even contempt. 

We can deduce that the illicit sexual relationship must have involved the angel and human beings.

Activity: 

  1. Explain:
    1. The Bible shows us that the angels acted immorally through lust and sexual relationship.
      1. For supplemental sources outside of the Bible that show this same point, please see World Scriptures page 505-517: http://www.worldprayerfoundation.com/resources/World%20Scriptures.pdf
    2. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve were naked and not ashamed, but after they Fell they were ashamed of their nakedness and covered their lower parts. It makes sense that their lower parts were involved in the crime of the Fall.
    3. A true sexual relationship between husband and wife is meant to be a profoundly soulful celebration of intimacy designed by God, however, because of the Fall, sex is often viewed with shame and embarrassment.
  2. Discuss: The misuse of sex and problems in our society (It may be a good idea to have the youth answer these questions in a notebook first and then discuss. This can be a challenging topic with teenagers, so its ok if the discussion is very limited. You should feel free to answer the questions to solidify the direction we want the discussion to take)
    1. What leaders and famous figures can you think of that have misused sex? (Ex: Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby etc.) How has that impacted their status in society?
    2. What type of concepts do we have about people who commit crimes surrounding sex? (Rape, Statuary Rape, Child Pornography, etc.) Why are those concepts so strong?
    3. How do you feel about younger children experimenting with sexual acts? Why do you feel this way?
  3. Use some of the following resources to share what society teaches us about sex.

You may know of more relevant and updated sources, so feel free to use those. The goal of this section is to reveal what our culture teaches us about sex, and how far it is from God’s ideal: a. Porn: 

  1. We Need to Talk… About Porn: http://fightthenewdrug.org/we–need–to–talk/
  2. How Clicking Porn Directly Fuels Sex Trafficking: http://fightthenewdrug.org/howporn–fuels–sex–trafficking–video/
  3. TV Shows & Movies:
  4. No Strings Attached: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–oGLEdjBZVo
  5. Discuss: What TV shows do you watch now? What do they teach you about sex? c. Song Lyrics:
  6. Cool for the Summer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkO4YqnxGBA ii. Get Lucky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H75AFiLGd8Y
  1. What sex is supposed to be:
    1. If you are blessed, this would be a good opportunity for you to express your understanding of God’s intended purpose of sex.
    2. If you are not blessed, invite a blessed couple to share briefly on this topic.

Concluding Point: A sexual relationship was something God designed as part of the intimate relationship between husband and wife. It is supposed to something to look forward to learning about with your spouse.

section-oneManish Saluja