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 surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of 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. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Genesis 3:1-13
We’re familiar with the story. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Sin has still not entered creation. Everything is perfect just as God planned it. But then…in comes temptation and mankind is changed forever. The serpent questions whether God had really commanded them to "not eat from any tree in the garden." Eve replied by telling the serpent that they were to not "eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden" and added that if they even touched the tree they would die. The serpent, described as "more crafty than any of the wild animals", puts the finishing touches on his enticing saying, "You will surely not die…for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." If only Eve could have seen the evil speaking to her BEFORE she took the forbidden fruit and ate it. But that’s not the way it happened. Eve took the fruit and ate. So did Adam. And with those first bites, sin entered in. Eden…God’s perfect garden paradise…that’s where sin started. It didn’t have to be that way but it happened and we had best gain some lessons learned from it if we’re to survive in a world far more evil than Eden ever was. So how can we avoid falling into temptation like Eve? Here are some important lessons we can learn from the scripture in Chapter 3 of Genesis:
1. Follow God’s commands, no matter what. God gave very clear instructions. Eat of every other tree but the tree of the knowledge of tree and evil. It’s not that there wasn’t plenty of fruit to eat. There was. And yet, Adam and Eve allowed an enticing serpent to convince them to violate God’s order. The same holds true today. God has given us commandments to follow. Jesus, His Only Son, did likewise. Yet we decide to violate their commands and surrender to the temptations of the world. We listen to modern day lurking "serpents" who do a good job of convincing us that sin is OK. I can still hear the echoes of the serpents words to Adam and Eve, "Surely you won’t die." It couldn’t have been further away from the truth then and it isn’t today either.
Question: Do you know what God has commanded? Do you know what Jesus has commanded? For you need to know both first before you can hope to discern between what is right and wrong. This leads to point 2.
2. Consult God. If you really want to know whether something is right or wrong…whether something is of His will or not…then just ask God and He’ll let you know. The knowledge of everything good and evil is in God, not some fruit on a tree. In choosing to eat the fruit from the tree, Adam and Eve were essentially choosing to seek discernment on their own apart from God. In other words, if they could see for themselves, there would be no need for God in their lives. The bottom line is that God will always lead you right. When the "serpents" of the world try to lead you to believing you can have the same vision as God, then you need to turn away from them and turn toward God.
Question: When was the last time you consulted God on any matter of your life? Do you just consult Him when you’re in trouble and discount Him all other times? Do you have a tendency to be led astray by others because you place more trust in them than God? God expects us to consult Him and more importantly listen to Him when He advises. And this leads to the third lesson we can learn from Adam and Eve’s failure.
3. Never let anyone speak to you on behalf of God without validating for truth. If only Eve had turned to God after the serpent spoke and said, "God…is this true?" A simple question to the One who would have revealed truth and prevented the fruit from being eaten. But that’s not what happened. The serpent spoke on behalf of God and Eve believed Him, ushering in disobedience and the destructiveness of sin. We need to learn that apart from God, we too will be convinced that a lot of things are proper and pleasing to Him when they aren’t. And don’t become so comfortable that you believe anyone, including pastors or even me in this blog. Turn to God and ask Him for truth and He will never let you down.
Question: Who do you follow and listen to when you seek spiritual guidance? Do you validate what you’re being told through God?
Sin is here and here to stay. We are afflicted by it. We can’t escape it. It’s in our nature, passed down by the originators of everyone’s family tree, Adam and Eve. The good news is that we can navigate our way through life avoiding sin’s enticements if we only place God central to everything we do. Follow His commands, consult Him and validate everything through Him for truth. Eden offers us important lessons. Are we learning from them?
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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