THE DECEPTION AND THE FALL
3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of 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 hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 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. 6 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. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
vs 1 We see the first example of deception. The serpent is either Satan or a representative of Satan. He is a created being who is knowledgeable of good and evil. Something important to note here is that the serpent has access to the woman, also Adam is with her. Like in Job, Jehovah Elohim is aware of the temptation the serpent will present to Adam and the woman. The choice of immortality or the knowledge of good and evil is theirs. The choice to believe a lie in the face of truth is theirs. God knows the consequences of allowing this and allows it. Satan has not changed, he continues to employ the same tactics today. Only the faces have changed throughout history.
How to spot the tactics
1 Question the motive of the truth. Here Satan would have them believe that God did not want them to be like Him. The facts are clear, God created them, planted a garden for them, gave them a purpose, and granted them access to eternal life. The only thing God asked of them was to obey one prohibition. Gods motive is for the good of His creation.
2 Question the individuals understanding of the prohibition by misquoting the truth. Here satan is seeking to establish his authority above Gods. By falsely stating that it was a prohibition on all trees, he is reframing how the woman is to understand God. Even though the truth is He loves His creation, satan is highlighting that God is sovereign and if it were His will to do harm, there would be nothing they could do about it. They would be helpless, unless they became more like Him(God).
vs 2-3
3 Convince the one to be deceived to inaccurately restate the prohibition. Here Eve has been influenced by the previous statement, and adds to the prohibition.
vs 4-5
4 Now for the convincing lie. Satan call God a liar. Although they did not die at the moment of sin, death has now entered the perfect creation. Finally satan uses the most effective method to convince someone of a lie, he tells them of the benefits to themselves. He has highlighted that they are completely under Gods control and could be subject to His changes of their lifestyle, therefore by becoming like gods, they will be protecting themselves.
vs 6 The woman makes her own judgement of what is good. She has usurped Gods authority and implied that He lied to her and Adam. All of the benefits listed that make the fruit desirable are still influential today. Personal benefit is what satan tempted Jesus with for 40 days. Adam is right there, and rather than rebuking her, he takes and eats also.
vs 7 When their eyes were opened, what they had imagined was good, was in reality quite different.
Commentary
The tactics today are very similar, question the motives, highlight how you are being controlled, make you fearful that you are helpless, and lie about all the benefits of the imagined outcome, if you will only take action. Violence against each other and the destruction of faith and obedience to the gospel is satans goal. We all, individually, as Christians are responsible for our actions and words. Actions of love or of hate, words of love or of hate. The gospel is the good news, that required a sacrifice of love. Jesus's actions along with His words should convince us of His true motives. Religion administered by man is another story. Organized religion is susceptible to satans lies, and will turn many away from faith.
How to spot the tactics
1 Question the motive of the truth. Here Satan would have them believe that God did not want them to be like Him. The facts are clear, God created them, planted a garden for them, gave them a purpose, and granted them access to eternal life. The only thing God asked of them was to obey one prohibition. Gods motive is for the good of His creation.
2 Question the individuals understanding of the prohibition by misquoting the truth. Here satan is seeking to establish his authority above Gods. By falsely stating that it was a prohibition on all trees, he is reframing how the woman is to understand God. Even though the truth is He loves His creation, satan is highlighting that God is sovereign and if it were His will to do harm, there would be nothing they could do about it. They would be helpless, unless they became more like Him(God).
vs 2-3
3 Convince the one to be deceived to inaccurately restate the prohibition. Here Eve has been influenced by the previous statement, and adds to the prohibition.
vs 4-5
4 Now for the convincing lie. Satan call God a liar. Although they did not die at the moment of sin, death has now entered the perfect creation. Finally satan uses the most effective method to convince someone of a lie, he tells them of the benefits to themselves. He has highlighted that they are completely under Gods control and could be subject to His changes of their lifestyle, therefore by becoming like gods, they will be protecting themselves.
vs 6 The woman makes her own judgement of what is good. She has usurped Gods authority and implied that He lied to her and Adam. All of the benefits listed that make the fruit desirable are still influential today. Personal benefit is what satan tempted Jesus with for 40 days. Adam is right there, and rather than rebuking her, he takes and eats also.
vs 7 When their eyes were opened, what they had imagined was good, was in reality quite different.
Commentary
The tactics today are very similar, question the motives, highlight how you are being controlled, make you fearful that you are helpless, and lie about all the benefits of the imagined outcome, if you will only take action. Violence against each other and the destruction of faith and obedience to the gospel is satans goal. We all, individually, as Christians are responsible for our actions and words. Actions of love or of hate, words of love or of hate. The gospel is the good news, that required a sacrifice of love. Jesus's actions along with His words should convince us of His true motives. Religion administered by man is another story. Organized religion is susceptible to satans lies, and will turn many away from faith.
CONSEQUENCES
8 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. 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
CAST OUT OF THE GARDEN
22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.