The Temptation of Eve

Gen. 3:1: Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

Now starts the story of Eve and the Serpent (Satan) (Rev. 12:9; Rev. 20:2). If we look at the words given by God, we find that the serpent must have had some sort of knowledge of God, perhaps a superior knowledge of God. We also infer from the words, that he already knows what God has told the man. He asks whether God has told them about any specific tree in the garden. This serpent must have been brilliant in color and cunning when Adam was naming the animals. The beauty apparently overwhelmed the woman. Now we should understand that the serpent was "talking" to the woman. So there was a communications between them that at this time cannot be explained. We know the serpent was understood by the woman. So, there is a lot more to this serpent than immediately meets the eyes. As given in the Revelation references above, God calls Satan the serpent of old. Since we have hindsight, we recognize this serpent as Satan in some very attention getting vision to the woman. This "serpent of old" and his "angels" (demons) has led a revolt against God for ages. The story of Lucifer (Isa 14:12-15): 12 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! 13 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ 15 “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit. If we examine this scripture and the context before and after it, we see that Isaiah is speaking to the king of Babylon. Lucifer was one of God's finest creations. He was the most beautiful and powerful of all the hosts (angels). He is called the "star of the morning" and the "son of the dawn". It is said in the scripture that he was thrown out of heaven and down to earth. With his power and greed and especially pride, this angel wanted to take over the power of God. Look at the words of Isaiah. He wanted to "make myself like the Most High". He should have known better, but he honestly thought he could take over and be greater than God. That is remarkable considering it was God that created him to start with. To put the fall of Lucifer in time, it had to have happened just after creation because God said after the sixth day that all in the heavens and the earth were very good (perfect). Therefore, there was no evil; therefore, there was no Satan or demons. Soon after this, Lucifer is corrupted. One of the things to remember about the hosts, angels, is that they were created with a self will or free will. Therefore, they could make a decision to counter God. It was their choice. Ezekiel also speaks of this angel (Eze. 28:17). One should not think that Lucifer was the one and only who thinks he could be God. Today was have in our society sects that actually believe they can become gods when they die. They do not need a supernatural power. They are all in self. This is taught by intellectual leaders of today. Satan is certainly the "deceiver of the world". So, it is not unusual that the serpent could have persuaded the woman that there was nothing to worry about.

Gen. 3:2-3: 2 "The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”"

Verse 2 is pretty straight forward. The woman tells the serpent that they can eat the fruits of the garden. Verse 3 shows a frustration of being restricted. The woman tells the serpent that they can not only eat of those fruits of the tree in the middle of the garden. However, she adds something to it. She says that God said that she could not touch the tree. That was not true. In Gen. 2:16-17, it says The they could eat freely of any tree except for the one tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There is no "touch" reference. Why would the woman now start to put words into God's mouth. It doesn't look like the woman liked the restrictions. God said die and He means die. The question is when. It is apparent that the death about which Genesis is focused at this point is a spiritual death; not a physical death. Even though we are going to die, we are sure that the they lived a long life.

Gen. 3:4-5: 4"The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God [KJV - "shall be as gods"], knowing good and evil.”

Now the serpent is, of course, trying to get her to break her promise to the Lord to eat the fruit. To do that, there is probably the greatest the greatest lie in the Bible. The serpent tells the woman that she will not die. God was really trying to scare her into obedience. That was because God did not want the woman and Adam to know as much as God. By eating the fruit, Adam and the woman would know as much about good and evil as God did. We know that by disobeying God, we can be much more aware of God's righteousness. The "be like gods" words are ones that reflect on the actions of an individual when God's Word is denied or when God's sovereign goodness is questioned. When we do that we are in effect setting ourselves up as our own god. In a way, the serpent was right. Both the woman and later Adam had their eyes opened. They DID learn good and evil but not as "gods" (2 Cor. 11:3; John 8:44).

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