“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” – Genesis 3:1-6
We all face temptation every single day. It comes in many ways and tempts us to many different sins. The question is how do we deal with it. Do we give in? Do we resist? Do we ponder the temptation and reason though it or do we reject it straight away or flee?
When Eve was tempted in the Garden of Eden, the devil came to her in the form of a snake and started with a simple question. “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”.
“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Even in the question itself, satan was already being crafty. God never said not to eat from “any” tree, only the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Eve corrects the serpent that they could eat from the trees, just not the one, but also follows suit and distorts what God said, adding, “and you must not touch it, or you will die.” God didn’t say that. So, they are both already not dealing directly with what God said.
The devil continues by trying to convince Eve of how good the fruit is and how she will gain knowledge. He also implies that God is selfish and does not care for her, that He is only keeping her from the fruit so she won’t become equal to Him.
Eve then reasons, the fruit is edible and looks good and I’ll grow in wisdom, so…
Eve reasons her way into thinking that what she is doing is good, even though God said not to. At it’s core, this reasoning accepts the premise that God doesn’t want was is good for her and that rebelling against Him is good and beneficial. It rejects God’s love along with His command.
The progression.
When the devil comes to tempt Eve, she doesn’t reject him outright or flee, she listens. How often are we tempted towards some sin and, instead of rejecting it outright and fleeing, we entertain the thought?
Then the devil tells of all the “good” things that will come from the sin and Eve considers it. Hmm. Maybe this isn’t so bad after all? Maybe this is even a good thing. We, in our sinful nature, have an amazing ability to deceive ourselves and convince ourselves of the goodness of almost anything once we begin to desire it.
Finally, having listened and considered the devil’s argument, Eve eats the fruit. Having entertained the temptation and reasoned it’s goodness, we finally give in. Eve’s sin led to her being banished from the garden, her relationship with God being broken, and her eventual death. Similarly, our sin hurts our relationship with God and leads to death.
James describes this progression this way:
“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” – James 1:13-15
Repentance or Excuses
This would have been the end of story, if not for God’s great love and mercy. Sending Jesus to die on the cross, God created a way for us to be forgiven and our relationship with Him to be restored.
When Adam and Eve were confronted by God about their sin, they gave excuses. We are tempted to do the same, but God tells us that, rather than give excuses, we should confess and turn from our sin (repent). It’s not always easy. Like a child frighted of punishment from their parents, we want to hide and avoid confessing.
This is when we need to remember when Eve forgot. God does love us and wants what is best for us. When He tells us to confess and turn from our sin, it’s because He wants to forgive us and restore us. We can trust Him.
Heavenly Father,
I confess that I have sinned against You. I have rebelled. I have treated You as though You did not know best and my ways were better. I am sorry. For Jesus sake, please forgive me. Help me, as I face temptation, to turn from it. Keep me from entertaining it and desiring it.
Amen.
You can read the full account of the Fall in Genesis 3. Click here to read it.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
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