The Devil John makes Jesus a witness to the truth (John 18:37) manifested to destroy the works of the

devil (1 John 3:18) Johns devil is a !reat red dra!on with seven heads and ten horns ("evelation 1#:3)$ it is that old ser%ent &alled the Devil and 'atan who has de&eived the whole world ("evelation 1#:() )t is )srael John has Jesus say the Jewish %eo%le were fathered *y the devil and that the devil was a murderer from the *e!innin! (John 8:++) Two killers are mentioned in the early %art of ,enesis: -ain (,enesis +:8) and .ame&h (,enesis +:#3) /either -ain nor .ame&h &an *e &alled the devil The ser%ent in the 0dam and 1ve story is not many headed and it murdered no one$ it did en&oura!e 1ve to *ehave in a way that &ould have &aused her death (,enesis 3:3) John makes a &onne&tion *etween -ain and the wi&ked one (1 John 3:1#) 2y asso&iatin! -ain with the wi&ked one John &reates the im%ression the ser%ent in the 0dam and 1ve story is the wi&ked one 3owever4 the ima!e of the dra!on used *y John in "evelation is not *ased u%on the ser%ent in ,enesis The ima!e in "evelation is *ased u%on .eviathan: the many headed dra!on in the sea ()saiah #7:1 and 5salm 7+:1+) )t &ould *e that there is a &onne&tion *etween the ser%ent in the 0dam and 1ve story and the ser%ent in the sea )t would not *e %ossi*le to re&o!ni6e the ,enesis ser%ent as a su%ernatural *ein! with %owers akin to those of ,od The ser%ent was %unished for enti&in! 1ve: he was &ursed a*ove all &attle and every *east of the field and had to eat dust all the days of his life (,enesis 3:1+) 7hat is odd a*out the ,enesis ser%ent is his a*ility to s%eak and edu&ate 1ve a*out the %ower of the fruit of the tree of the knowled!e of !ood and evil to &onfer wisdom (,enesis 3:8) The ser%ent &ontradi&ted ,od and *randed him a liar ,od told 0dam not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowled!e of !ood and evil: eatin! it would &ause 0dam to die (,enesis #:17) 1ve told the ser%ent that ,od had warned them not to tou&h the fruit of that tree4 as that would *rin! death (,enesis 3:3) 1ve was advised that eatin! the fruit from the tree of the knowled!e of !ood and evil would not &ause death4 and that ,od knew if they ate it their eyes would *e o%ened and they would *e like !ods (,enesis 3:+ and 3:9) 0dam and 1ve did not die after eatin! the fruit of the tree of the knowled!e of !ood and evil4 their eyes were o%ened4 they knew !ood and evil4 and ,od was &on&erned that the man had *e&ome like one of the !ods and mi!ht a&:uire eternal life *y eatin! from the tree of life (,enesis 3:##)4 therefore ,od e;%elled the man from the !arden (,enesis 3:#+) )t would not *e %ossi*le to &hara&teri6e the ser%ent in the 0dam and 1ve story as a liar 3e told 0dam and 1ve the truth ,od lied to them ,od told them that they would die if the ate or tou&hed the fruit of a &ertain tree 3owever4 they tou&hed and ate the fruit from that tree and lived < they went on to start a family and 0dam lived to *e nine hundred and thirty years old (,enesis 9:9)

The =ahwist (J &ode) teller of the 0dam and 1ve story made this man and woman the &ou%le from whi&h all other %eo%le are derived and set their meetin! with the ser%ent in a time *efore &lothes were invented$ their eatin! of the fruit of the tree of the knowled!e of !ood and evil and their involvement with the ser%ent is set in the distant %ast 0%%arently4 all the ser%ent did was %romote the use of a %arti&ular fruit 'u%ernatural %owers are not an attri*ute of the ser%ent and no dishonesty is dis&erna*le in the ser%ents s%ee&h The ser%ent introdu&es 0dam and 1ve to the use of the fruit of the tree of the knowled!e of !ood and evil and then disa%%ears from the story 'atan and devil are names with similar meanin! Devil is derived from a ,reek word that means slanderer or a&&user$ 'atan &omes from 3e*rew and means o%%ose4 %lot a!ainst4 adversary 'atan a%%ears in the story of Jo*: the sons of ,od %resent themselves to the .ord4 and so does 'atan (Jo* 1:8 and Jo* #:1) This 3e*rew 'atan is a fi&titious &hara&ter in a work of fi&tion 3e has no real e;isten&e >arious ideas in &om*ination have !enerated the modern %i&ture of the devil: the ser%ent in the 0dam and 1ve story4 'atan from the tale of Jo*4 the ,reek dia*olos (slanderer) and Johns many?headed dra!on from "evelation /one of these ideas re%resent an a&tual individual Johns dra!on is an area of land with mountains and a &ity4 'atan means adversary4 devil means slanderer4 and the ser%ent in ,enesis is not a su%ernatural *ein! or the em*odiment of evil John used the terms4 Devil4 'atan and old ser%ent to denote )srael as it was and as it would *e ("evelation #@:#) )t would have *een le!itimate for John and the ori!inal followers of Jesus to think of the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem as their adversary4 slanderer4 and a&&user that o%%osed and %lotted a!ainst them 0fter the *e!innin! of -hristianity the name .u&ifer was a%%lied to 'atan )t was ima!ined that 'atan was &alled .u&ifer *efore his fall .u&ifer is a name for the mornin! star Aakin! the mornin! star a name for 'atan turns Jesus into the Devil )n "evelation the term mornin! star is used to indi&ate Jesus ("evelation ##:18) The mornin! star4 whi&h is the &loven ton!ues of fire e;%erien&e4 &an *e !iven to the su&&essful -hristian ("evelation #:#8) The ser%ent in the 0dam and 1ve story is the first ser%ent en&ountered in the 2i*le )t :ualifies as the old ser%ent for that reason 0*rahams family lived in Br (,enesis 11:#8) lon! after stories a*out the &reation of the world and humankind were first written down The first system of writin! is thou!ht to have ori!inated in 'umer$ their oldest written re&ords are said to date from the middle of the +th millennium 2'umerian literature relates how the first humans !rew like !rass or her*s after 1nlil *roke the !round with the hoe he had invented 0kkadian a&&ounts tell how the !ods had to di! irri!ation &anals and do other work to earn their food They *e&ame dissatisfied with their situation4 re*elled and &om%lained to the mother of the !od 1nki 1nki had his mother *e&ome %re!nant with the en!enderin! &lay of 0%su and !ive *irth to man$ man was &reated to work for the !ods The flesh and *lood of the !od 7e were used in the makin! of man: it is the immortal %art of a human *ein!

Cne story &on&erns ,il!amesh 3e set out to find Btna%ishtim and his wife: the only humans to survive the flood 0fter the flood they were !ranted immortality *y the !ods ,il!amesh found Btna%ishtim and was informed of a %lant that &ould make old %eo%le youn! a!ain 3e a&:uired the %lant *ut a ser%ent stole it from him The writin! in whi&h this ser%ent a%%ears is older than the writin! in whi&h the ,enesis ser%ent a%%ears .ike the ,enesis ser%ent this older ser%ent is linked with a %lant that has s%e&ial %ro%erties )t is as an ordinary ser%ent: it does not s%eak to ,il!amesh or en&oura!e him to use the %lant ,il!amesh o*tained the %lant and en&ountered the ser%ent after the flood "ou!hly s%eakin! 'umerian and 0kkadian stories were written down two thousand years *efore the stories in ,enesis were written down 'umerian and 0kkadian stories are not &o%ied from the stories in ,enesis *ut the stories in ,enesis a%%ear derived from 'umerian and 0kkadian stories 0s the ,il!amesh story makes a link *etween a ser%ent and a %lant with s%e&ial %ro%erties4 the notion of a link *etween the two must have *een re&o!ni6ed *efore the story was written down /either the ser%ent in the ,il!amesh story nor the ser%ent in the 0dam and 1ve story is a su%ernatural *ein! with !reat %ower to do evil *ut *oth are linked to a %lant Bnless stories a*out ser%ents linked to %lants were &ommon%la&e in 'umer and 0kkad the ser%ent in the ,il!amesh story and the ser%ent in the 0dam and 1ve story are %ro*a*ly one and the same The &ity of 2a*ylon is not mentioned *efore a*out #3@@ 2- )t was *uilt for the !od Aarduk after he had defeated Tiamat in *attle Tiamat is des&ri*ed as the %rimordial dra!on4 the multi?headed ser%ent?dra!on4 a she dra!on and mother of the first 2a*ylonian !ods Tiamat (the sea) mi;in! with 0%su (sweet waters under!round) *rou!ht a*out the first !ods .ahmu and .ahamu These two !ods usually re%resent silt *ut in some stories they take ser%ent forms Tiamat had a &onsort 3is name was Din!u Aarduk4 on the advi&e of his father (1a)4 a&&used Din!u of &ausin! the &onfli&t with Tiamat and had him killed 1a then made mankind out of Din!us *lood )n this story a su%ernatural ser%ent is res%onsi*le for !eneratin! the first !ods and mankind Aankind &ould have *een made from the *lood of a ser%ent if Din!u4 Tiamats &onsort4 had a ser%ent?dra!on form 2a*ylonian ima!ery of a multi?headed dra!on is refle&ted in Johns &reation The ima!e used in "evelation is similar to the 2a*ylonian dra!on$ it is not like the ser%ent in the ,il!amesh story or the ser%ent in the 0dam and 1ve story The &ity of 2a*ylon is not mentioned *efore a*out #3@@ 2- )t *e&ame %oliti&ally si!nifi&ant around 189@ 2- 0morites &on:uered Aeso%otamia *y 1(@@ 2- They held %ower until a%%ro;imately 18@@ 2- Bnder their rule 2a*ylon *e&ame the %oliti&al and *usiness hu* of the Ti!ris?1u%hrates re!ion 3ammura*i (17(#?179@ 2-) is %erha%s the most well known ruler of the 1st dynasty of 2a*ylon 0fter his rei!n the 2a*ylonian em%ire4 whi&h en&om%assed southern Aeso%otamia and %art of 0ssyria4 went into de&line

)n 19(9 2- 'amsuditana4 the 2a*ylonian kin!4 was dethroned *y Aursil ) 0fter that event Dassites took %ower and held it for a*out +@@ years Durin! the Dassite %eriod 0ssyria *e&ame dis&onne&ted from 2a*ylonian &ontrol and *e!an to develo% as an autonomous em%ire Dassite rule was ended in a*out 1197 2- *y for&es from 1lam (in south?western )ran) Cut of the wars that followed emer!ed a new line of 2a*ylonian kin!s: the #nd dynasty of )sin /e*u&hadre66ar ) (111(?1@(8 2-) defeated 1lam and retrieved the statue of Aarduk The &enturies after /e*u&hadre66ars rule saw a stru!!le for &ontrol of 2a*ylonia develo% *etween 0ssyria4 -haldean tri*es and 0ramean tri*es 3owever4 from the (th &entury 2- until the fall of the 0ssyrian em%ire4 towards the end of the 7th &entury 2-4 0ssyrian kin!s mostly ruled 2a*ylonia The last 0ssyrian kin! was 0shur*ani%al (rei!ned 888?8#7 2-) 7hen 0shur*ani%al died a -haldean4 /a*o%olassar4 *e&ame kin! /a*o%olassar for&ed the 0ssyrians out of Bruk and in 8#8 2- de&lared himself kin! of 2a*ylonia 3e died in 8@9 2/a*o%olassars son /e*u&hadre66ar )) (rei!ned 8@9?98# 2-) &on:uered 'yria and 5alestine )n 987 2- he destroyed Judah and Jerusalem -yrus the ,reat of 5ersia dethroned /e*u&hadre66ars last su&&essor4 /a*onidus4 in 93( 2- 0le;ander the ,reat took 2a*ylonia in 331 2- 0le;ander intended to make 2a*ylon the &a%ital of his em%ire *ut died *efore doin! so$ he died in /e*u&hadre66ars %ala&e in 3#3 2,eneral 'eleu&us4 one of 0le;anders most im%ortant !enerals4 !ained 2a*ylonia and founded the 'eleu&id kin!dom4 whi&h lasted from 31# 2- to 8+2- The 'eleu&ids deserted 2a*ylon and made 0ntio&h their &a%ital /o ser%ent of si!nifi&an&e a%%ears in 'umerian or 0kkadian stories a*out the &reation of human *ein!s Tiamat mother of all dra!ons e;isted *efore 2a*ylon was *uilt and4 after her defeat *y Aarduk4 human *ein!s were made from the *lood of her &om%anion Din!u 'er%ent and 2a*ylon are &onne&ted Aarduk *ut&hered the ser%ent and from her &or%se made the heavens4 the earth4 its mountains and rivers 5arts of the 2a*ylonian ser%ent *e&ame mountains and rivers John used a similar te&hni:ue to turn )srael into the old ser%ent and the *east The old ser%ent and the *east have seven heads These heads indi&ate the %owers that ruled over the land of )srael from its &reation to its destru&tion *y the "omans: )srael4 0ssyria4 2a*ylon4 5ersia4 ,ree&e and "ome: %lus two future %owers Eive of the %owers had fallen and one was ("ome)$ one %ower was to &ome (kin!dom of 0nti&hrist)$ the *east that was and would *e a!ain4 and whi&h was of the seven4 was to *e %ower num*er ei!ht ()srael) 7hat these %owers have in &ommon is a desire to rule over others4 either throu!h for&e of arms or throu!h the will of a !od )srael %romoted itself as a %eo%le in a s%e&ial relationshi% with the one livin! !od They e;%e&ted =ahweh to destroy their enemies and make their kin!dom the most im%ortant kin!dom in the world: the %la&e (Jerusalem or Fion) where =ahweh lived

/e*u&hadre66ar )) *elieved Aarduk4 !od of 2a*ylon4 had !ranted him universal kin!shi% Jeremiah says /e*u&hadre66ar was a servant of =ahweh (Jeremiah #9:() )saiah maintains -yrus the ,reat4 first of the 0&haemenid kin!s4 was =ahwehs anointed one even thou!h -yrus had not known =ahweh ()saiah +9:1 and +9:+) 0hura Aa6da was the !od of the 0&haemenid kin!s They *elieved 0hura Aa6da had !iven their em%ire to them 0ntio&hus )> inherited the 'eleu&id kin!dom in 179 2- 3e outlawed &ir&um&ision and the o*servan&e of the 'a**ath$ *oth &rimes were %unisha*le *y death 0ntio&hus esta*lished an altar for Feus in the Jerusalem Tem%le4 whi&h led to the Aa&&a*ean revolt "oman em%erors &ould *e&ome !ods 0u!ustus (rei!ned #7 2- to 0D 1+) was the first em%eror to *e&ome a !od$ after 0u!ustus all %o%ular "oman em%erors were worshi%ed as !ods The &ru&ifi;ion of Jesus took %la&e under Ti*erius (rei!ned 0D 1+ to 0D 37)$ -ali!ula (rei!ned 0D 37 to 0D +1) followed Ti*erius$ -laudius (rei!ned 0D +1 to 0D 9+) followed -ali!ula$ /ero (rei!ned 0D 9+ to 0D 88) followed -laudius$ >es%asian (rei!ned 0D 8( to 0D 7() followed /ero )n 0D 7@ the Jerusalem Tem%le was destroyed John4 in "evelation4 %redi&ted two more %owers would a%%ear on the world sta!e: 0nti&hrist4 and the *east that would &ome a!ain 0nti&hrists kin!dom !rew out of the tea&hin!s of 5aul (the false %ro%het) 0fter the kin!dom of the 0nti&hrist4 the *east that was4 was not and would *e a!ain ()srael) will return and take %ower Johns dra!on is made u% of %owers that want to rule the world Those em%ires or kin!doms that wish to dominate the earth are the enemies of ,od and of The 7ord ("evelation 1(:1() Johns dra!on is not a su%ernatural entity: it is a meta%hor >arious dates are su!!ested for the &om%osition of the 2a*ylonian %oem (1numa elish) that deals with Aarduk and Tiamat: #@th &entury 2-4 1+th &entury 2-4 and 1#th &entury 2- The authors identity is unknown$ *ut the %oem was re&ited in Aarduks tem%le in 2a*ylon at the /ew =ear festival (0kitu): a ten to twelve day event in whi&h the kin! lost his authority < allowin! disorder to rei!n ? and had it reinstated Cther stories tellin! of &onfli&t *etween a !od and a dra!on e;ist 0 -anaanite story tells how the !ood !ods 2aal and 0nath went to war with =amm ruler of the o&eans4 rivers4 lakes and under!round s%rin!s$ from 3ittite tradition &omes a tale of war *etween the dra!on )lluyankas and the weather !od Tarhun 'tories in whi&h ser%ent? like or dra!on?like *ein!s %lay a %art are found in many &ountries: 1!y%t4 )ran4 )ndia4 -hina4 ,ree&e and elsewhere )t is &ustomary to identify many?headed dra!ons su&h as Tiamat and .eviathan as sea and &haos /evertheless4 ser%ent?like !ods and !oddesses were linked to 1!y%t and -rete the first two maGor maritime %owers 7arshi%s (&onstru&ted of reeds and &overed with %it&h) are first re&orded on the /ile4 *y 3@@@ 2- 1!y%t was *uildin! wooden sea!oin! shi%s &a%a*le of trade and &on:uest missions$ a thousand years later the warshi%s of -rete &ontrolled the eastern Aediterranean )t is %ossi*le that %art of the story of the many?headed ser%ent in the sea is linked to the rise of these sea %owers: shi%s *ein! the many heads

/ot all many?headed ser%ents &an *e understood as &haos or sea Ty%hon4 the youn!est son of ,aea and Tartarus4 had a hundred dra!ons heads and after defeatin! him Feus &ast him into the underworld < various &hara&ters Gum%ed into the sea to avoid Ty%hon 1&hidna4 %art ser%ent %art woman4 was the wife of Ty%hon Cne of their &hildren was the dra!on4 .adon4 who !uarded the !olden a%%le *earin! trees in the !arden of the 3es%erides 0s Ty%hon and 1&hidna were the %arents of .adon he must have *een %art human and %art many?headed dra!on .adon is asso&iated with a desira*le fruit: the !olden a%%le ,aea !ave a !olden a%%le?*earin! tree to 3era at her marria!e to Feus That ,aea was familiar with the !olden a%%le?*earin! tree su!!ests that the &ultivation of the tree *e!an in very an&ient times Feus was the son of "hea Feus was in dan!er from his father -ronus "hea hid Feus in a &ave on -rete )n 1(@3 'ir 0rthur 1vans found a fi!urine on -rete )t is known as a Ainoan 'nake ,oddess 0rthur 1vans *elieved it was &onne&ted to the snake !oddess of the /ile Delta (7adGet or 2uto) The fi!urine holds a snake in ea&h hand and on her hat there is an o%ium a%%le &om%lete with the s&rat&hes made when harvestin! the dru! )t seems reasona*le to assume that a snake !oddess who harvests o%ium indi&ates a reli!ious &ult that used o%ium The o%ium a%%le is synonymous with !olden a%%le4 sa&red %ome!ranate4 a%%le of immortality4 and the fruit of the tree of knowled!e of !ood and evil C%ium was used in a &ult whose em*lem was a ser%ent The ser%ent in the 0dam and 1ve story &an *e understood as a reli!ion in &om%etition with other reli!ions 'everal mytholo!ies mention &onfli&t *etween a ser%ent and the esta*lished order: 1!y%tian4 ,reek4 3indu4 -hinese4 )ranian4 et& The ser%ent in the 0dam and 1ve story is a sym*ol &onne&ted to a reli!ion that used o%ium in its a&t of worshi% )t is not an a&tual ser%ent in any way4 sha%e or form 0 reli!ion that uses o%ium is a false reli!ion4 a s%reader of a falsehood and ill health (evil) C%ium use &an lead to death The ,enesis ser%ent was %romotin! a *elief system that 0dam and 1ve em*ra&ed 5erha%s they &an *e seen as offs%rin! of the devil *e&ause they followed the reli!ion of the ser%ent < a reli!ion *ased on a false %romise and an addi&tive dru! John has Jesus say that the Jews are not of ,od (John 8:+7)4 that they have not known ,od (8:99) and that they are the &hildren of the devil (John 8:++) )n "evelation John makes )srael the !reat dra!on4 the old ser%ent4 the Devil and 'atan John says the devil sinned from the *e!innin! and that Jesus was manifested to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) )srael is the devil4 and it is the as%irations and o*Ge&tives of )srael that Jesus &ame to destroy )sraels o*Ge&tive is world domination4 a&hieved with the hel% of its allies: the kin!s of the world and their armies ????????????