Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the Garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
-Genesis 3:1-4
Here we have the original temptation in which Eve is being tempted by the serpent to do exactly the opposite of what God said. This temptation is truly subtil as it was described by the scriptures. There is a question asked in a way that begins the deception by sowing doubt and slightly twisting what God had said. The question of “Yea, hath God said” immediately gaslights Eve into thinking about whether she really understands or knows God’s commandment and puts her on the defensive. “Ye shall not eat of every tree of the Garden” continues the gaslighting and continues to so doubt. “Gen 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, though shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” By rephrasing what God said, the serpent continues his attack on Eve. It is of the utmost importance that we understand that Satan knows the Word of God very well and is a master at manipulating it and it all started with “Ye hath God said…”.
When Eve responds she tells the snake she is able to eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but says there is one tree in which she cannot eat or even touch without dying. It is interesting that she adds to what we read back in chapter 2 in which Adam was told not to eat with no mention of touching. Remember this as we go further. I believe this addition to God’s word only further led Eve into the cunning craftiness of the serpent as is seen with his immediate response.
“Ye shall not surely die.” It started with did God really say that and now has moved on to God is lying, believe me. Then to back up the lie he says, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Do you see the snake venom mixed in with the truth? “Ye shall not surely die” Lie. “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened” Truth. “and ye shall be as gods” Lie. “knowing good and evil.” Truth. You see the pattern lie, justify it with the truth, lie some more, and end with truth. We learn that Satan does not just out right lie, he hides his lies with the truth and between the truth and places them all around the truth.
We can learn even more from this interaction. Our enemy Satan, will take any variation from God’s word and use it against us. When Eve told Satan that she was not able to touch it without dying, he responded by telling here that she would not surely die. I believe this sewed doubt into Eve a little more and when her next action is taken in which she picks the fruit and does not die, I believe, it “confirmed” the snakes words and lead her to commit the actual sin of eating the forbidden fruit.
This brings us to the choice:
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard they voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Genesis 3:6-10
This is the first sin, it was exactly what they were told not to do directly by God. They were told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and yet they did and, as all sin does, it brought shame.
This is humanty’s first sin. This is the sin that ensures the death of every person in world and begins the battle of the flesh, the sin of disobedience to God’s word. Lets now look at what was the immediate effect of this sin. The woman (Eve) was enticed into desiring the forbidden fruit unto which she was overcome by her desire and ate: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,…” This is the same pattern of events that happens today. We know of a sin and that we should not do it, but the heart (wicked above all else) desires it, and then we can make excuses as to why we should have it, and then we commit the sin against the living God, people around us, or even ourselves. And as James wrote so effectively: James 1:14-15 “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
Here is hope to all today, when sin is committed, God is still active. He comes walking in the midst of Adam and Eve even as they are hiding from Him due to the shame of their sin. God calls out to them, “Where art thou?” knowing where they are, what they are doing, and why they are hiding. And here is a mystery, God knows every decision and every word that will and still allows each person to have his own will. So God, knowing what happened just now from before creation, still allows Adam a chance to answer His question. “I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because i was naked; and I hid myself.” Guilt over his sin causes Adam to give much more than the required answer to “Where art thou?”
From here God asks another question. Please remember God not only knows the exact answer to all of these questions, but He even knows the motivations and thoughts behind them. He knows better why Adam responds the way he does than Adam does, and the same with you and me. So God asks another question, the perfect question for the situation to flesh out the sin and make Adam and Eve admit they made them, “Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?”
This is the first sin, it was exactly what they were told not to do directly by God. They were told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and yet they did and, as all sin does, it brought shame.
This is humanty’s first sin. This is the sin that ensures the death of every person in world and begins the battle of the flesh, the sin of disobedience to God’s word. Lets now look at what was the immediate effect of this sin. The woman (Eve) was enticed into desiring the forbidden fruit unto which she was overcome by her desire and ate: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,…” This is the same pattern of events that happens today. We know of a sin and that we should not do it, but the heart (wicked above all else) desires it, and then we can make excuses as to why we should have it, and then we commit the sin against the living God, people around us, or even ourselves. And as James wrote so effectively: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
Here is hope to all today, when sin is committed, God is still active. He comes walking in the midst of Adam and Eve even as they are hiding from Him due to the shame of their sin. God calls out to them, “Where art thou?” knowing where they are, what they are doing, and why they are hiding. And here is a mystery, God knows every decision and every word that will and still allows each person to have his own will. So God, knowing what happened just now from before creation, still allows Adam a chance to answer His question. “I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because i was naked; and I hid myself.” Guilt over his sin causes Adam to give much more than the required answer to “Where art thou?”
Remember this is all foreordained as: Revelation 13:8 “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” This shows that God knew the sin would come and that the victory had already been won over sin even before sin came. God is in control and we can trust Him.
Continued in the next part..