So I read some more....And it was good...mostly

I must admit that I am trudging through this, though enjoying it, much slower than it seems my classmates are, but to each his (or her) own. I have now read from genesis 2 - 9. Not exactly a Herculean feat, but a feat nonetheless. My first issue in this reading was that, well, all the stuff I got excited about in the first blog essentially were erased. Adam and Eve? Not equal. Universe made through separation? Nope. Monsters? Not so much. I won't regale any potential readers with my slow tromp through the next few parts of Genesis, but there were a few highlights that got me thinking.
First, there seems to be no mention of the serpent being "Satan," which was something that I had been wholly convinced of when I heard the story before in classes, in films, books etc. Rather, it seems that one of God's creations, apparently one he didn't think to hard about in the creative process, seeing as it was, "more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD GOD had made" was responsible. Just a "woops" on God's part I suppose. I guess my question here is, why did God make it at all? This seems unclear to me, and I hope some people have some insights. The serpent just kind of 'poof' appears in the garden and starts using his serpent tongue to persuade Eve. Later, Adam and Eve hide from GOD, which, again, seems very unlikely. The GOD in the first part of Genesis seems omnipotent, and yet in the very next part, he's making creates that will undo the paradise He's created, and has no clue where his prize creations are. In essence, my BIG question is how did GOD go from all powerful to almost seemingly clueless in a mater of...four pages?
The question arises again when Cain is punished for the murder of Abel. As a quick side note, however, was Cain sarcastic with GOD? With capital G-O-D? "Then the LORD said to Cain 'Where is your brother Abel?!' He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" (italics added). That sounds rather "snarky" to me, which begs to question why God did not smite Cain right then and there. I read more of Genesis, but am rather tired of typing at the moment, and have no idea how formal this is to be, so I'm off to read (and eat ice cream).