Emancipation of Eve
or Jesus in the Synagogue of Satan
I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted — you may well put up with it! (2 Corinthians 11:2-4)
Read Fighting Over the Children and The Finger of God before you read this post.
John’s account concerning the woman caught in adultery highlights the satanic nature of legalism. The garden of Eden is not replayed here; rather, it is a sequel. The woman stands in the midst (a phrase that occurs twice). She is the Altar of Incense, the fragrant “army.” The scribes and Pharisees are the false Lampstand, standing in for satan as his body. He is, after all, their father. They bring no male lover to be condemned. She has been enticed and now stands accused. Her sin is one of wandering astray. Their sin is high-handed.
Adam did not step in and repeat the Law to Eve. He had received it (as Moses did on the mountain) but did not speak it when required (as Moses did in Deuteronomy). John’s account roughly follows the same structure. Jesus acts as though HE HAD NOT HEARD this bag-o’-snakes. He heard only the truth. His “silent witness” wiped out the old Israel—from the oldest to the youngest—just as the wilderness did. They tested Him and condemned themselves. [1]
From these engraved Trumpet plagues we move to Atonement. Jesus is alone with the woman (head and body, priest and people). He forgives her (communion) and commissions her (doxology and dismissal). This recommissioning is what happens to Israel in the book of Revelation. The refining fire of the Word removes the flux and she is miraculously transformed from a harlot into a chaste virgin, ready for marriage and godly offspring. It is also what happens to us at church every week, from glory to glory, if we follow the scriptural pattern of worship.
Jesus has moved from north to south, from Table of Showbread to Lampstand, replacing the serpent’s false light with the True. Satan was thrown down like lightning here, in type. It is no wonder that Jesus then says:
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
The Pharisees then accuse Jesus Himself:
“You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”
Like satan, these men thought they were the source of light, rather than its reflection. Jesus, the God man, of course, was both.
All this shows us the difference between Eve’s sin and Adam’s. In his first epistle, John assures us that those who walk in the light of Jesus find full forgiveness. [2] Those who walk in darkness are those, like Adam, who are confronted by God and will not confess their unrighteousness. Eve’s was not a “sin unto death.” The woman was forgiven. Adam’s sin, however, was high-handed. The Pharisees would surely die.
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[1] The Law written on tablets of stone at Ascension, opened at Testing, then written on tablets of flesh at Maturity. Here, it was written on Eve by a faithful Adam. Harlots and tax collectors repented and gladly entered the kingdom while Herod’s kingdom became an unrepentant tax collector and harlot.
[2] See Jim McGuiggan’s interesting article on this here.
