Genesis 3:1-8
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8 And they heard the sound 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 among the trees of the garden.
The cunning serpent of evil who embodies the spirit of antichrist and is also known as the dragon of old (Revelation 12:9-10, 20:2), this created being and fallen angel who was the first influencer of rebellion against God and His word, this father of lies (John 8:44) crept into the Garden and straight up to the woman Eve to deceive (2 Corinthians 11:3, 1 Timothy 2:14) her with the lie to disbelieve and distrust God’s word. He began with the truth of God’s command as he repeated the words that told them, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden,’ but twisted it into a question to bring it into question. He asked Eve if God really said that instead of bearing true witness that God had indeed said precisely that. Then Eve went along because she never encountered a liar just the God of all truth to that point. She took what the deceiver said and remade here response of what she heard to say that they could eat everything but if they ate of the fruit of that one tree in the middle of the Garden, the tree of knowing good and evil, they would die. But she added, “nor shall you touch it,” which was not part of God’s command and evoked a sense of disdain against God to even allow them to touch it and exaggerated the command in the process. The serpent jumped on that inroad of distrust to quickly deny that claim and said they certainly would not die if they touched it, and by the way, they could then also eat it and stay alive as well. He then blasphemed and maligned God by implying that God knew instead that they should eat it and have their eyes opened to know good and evil just and then be just like God! What deception! The woman fell for it and took and ate in direct disobedience to the command of God by listening to the temptation to be like Him just as Satan himself had done (Isaiah 14:13-14) before. She shared the fruit of evil with Adam her husband when with him and he went along with her in spite of hearing the prohibition from God Himself. This they sinned by desiring to be wise and their own god but realized too late that sin was there at their door waiting for them (Genesis 4:7). Their knowledge of good and evil was not taught by God (Hebrews 5:14) and therefore they were untaught in how to deal with it and all they saw with evil possibilities as well as good. They then saw their natural nakedness as unclean in a distorted sense of pleasure over the command to be fruitful and multiply to fill as the earth (Genesis 1:27-28) and instead saw only the consequence of disobedience as originally told them. This is the account of the temptation and fall of man into sin and its eternal consequences of physical death and spiritual separation from God as a worse death due to not taking God at His word and being taught by that word what is good to know and do while avoiding what is evil (1 Peter 3:11-12). What do we now do as their descendants? May we choose not our way to define what is right and wrong as the fallen world around us does who rejects God’s living Word become flesh as the gospel (John 1:1-2, 14, 16-17), but instead listen to His word to lead our way of thinking and understanding and actions.
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