At this point in Genesis, all is well.
God, out of His infinite love, has made the world. He has created man and woman in His image. They are in love and in relationship with each other. God with them. They with Him. And with each other.
In the garden God made for them, the man and woman existed. And everything was good.
In that state, God said:
“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16–17, ESV).
You see, as good as everything was, man and woman still had freedom. They were free to obey. Or free to rebel.
The man and woman were not prisoners to God's desires. They had the ability to disobey Him. They were not automatons, human-like machines that could only obey God. No, they could also disobey their Maker.
But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was more than a test of obedience, but also a test of trust. If they ceased to believe God had given them everything that was good, if they ceased to trust God's nature, they would eat the forbidden fruit. If they doubted God's goodness, they would eat. If they thought God was holding out on them, they would partake of the outlawed tree.
This means that to eat the forbidden fruit was a statement that God, His provision, and His ways were not enough. They needed more.
We know the story. Eventually, at some point after their creation (we don't know how long after), they grew suspicious of God and ate the fruit He'd forbidden.
But, to get there, a nudge was required. The serpent would provide that nudge.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
The Serpent
This section begins with a crafty serpent talking to the woman (1).
Remember, in all of creation, no one was higher than humanity. The creatures of the earth were to be in subjection to the man and woman, who were to have dominion and subdue the earth. They were, unlike the serpent or any other animal, made in God's image. Only God was superior to them.
This means the temptation came from beneath them. And to submit to a serpent would bring them down rather than up. It would demean them, rather than elevate them.
Every temptation works this way. They are all designed to demean you, to make you less human, to frustrate your divine purpose, and pull you down rather than exalting you. The dominion we can have through Christ is so often lost through temptation.
Now, the Scripture spends zero time explaining this talking serpent. Eve doesn't act shocked, so perhaps this was a perfectly natural event to her.
And, as tempting as it might be to declare this art or fairy tale or fable, the Bible doesn't treat it as such. Genesis 1-11 is treated as factual and historical. To treat this portion as fiction means you must treat the whole section the same way. No, we cannot give it such treatment. Though unusual, the Bible presents this event as factual.
But we aren't given much more information as to how this conversation worked. What the Bible does tell us is that the Devil somehow used this serpent. Satan is referred to as the "ancient serpent" (Revelation 12:9, 20:2). How closely the snake and Satan were related we do not know, but here, at least at this moment, they were connected in some way.
The Insidious Question
And the crafty cunningness of the serpent brought forth an insidious question. Let's observe it for a moment:
He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" (1).
Notice first how he addressed his question to the woman (1). God had created man first, and then the woman had come from man's side. She would complete him, and they would be perfect complements to one another. Adam would lead the relationship and Eve would be his perfect companion who would help him as he also helped her (2:18, 20).
So it comes as no surprise when Satan immediately attempted to disrupt the order of their marriage. He wanted to thwart God's plan. Later, God rebuked Adam for following his wife's lead (3:17). This was Satan's plan all along.
Notice also how he challenged God's word. He said, "Did God actually say, "You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" (1). His attempt was to plant a seed of doubt in Eve. God is good. God was good. The creation of God was good. But Satan wanted Adam and Eve to doubt God's goodness, including His good plan and provision for their lives.
You see, what God had said was, You may eat of every tree, but there is one you shall not eat from. The way God framed His command, and the reality of His command, was positive. Incredible freedom.
They should have responded: Every tree is ours! We can eat the fruit from all! God has taken care of us! We need nothing else!
But Satan wanted God's people to doubt God's goodness. He wanted them feeling God was restrictive, holding out on them. So the way he framed it was negative. You can't eat of any tree?
Genesis 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
In these verses, in her reply, we witness Eve making four crucial mistakes.
Mistake 1: Entertaining the Serpent
So Eve responded to the serpent (2). This was her first mistake. You don't entertain the snake. You don't get into a debate with someone so crafty (1). You don't entertain thoughts that doubt God's goodness.
Instead, you run (1 Corinthians 6:18). You take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). You flee.
But Eve didn't. She responded. This was her first mistake.
And when the great tempter of your soul whispers into your ear, "Is God really all that good to you?" You must resist and run from him. He is a liar and a deceiver. Instead, look to Jesus, see the cross of Christ, and know the perpetual, immovable, unshakeable, everlasting goodness of God.
What He has given you, what He has prescribed for us, is good. Always. Don't entertain the thoughts within or without that tell you God is holding out on you. Don't listen to those voices.
Mistake 2: Minimizing God's Provision
Eve's second mistake was to minimize God's provision. God had told Adam they were to freely eat of all the trees but one (Genesis 2:16 NIV, HCSB, NKJV). They were free. And, except for one, every tree was theirs. Every tree. This was meant to signify radical and superabundant provision from God.
But Eve took all the life and promise and generosity out of God's provision when she said, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees" (2). I picture her delivering the line totally monotone — no life in her voice. Like, "You know, the trees are there. We can eat them if we want to. No big deal." Yawn.
There's a big difference between " we may eat" and "we've been told to freely eat." I think this was Eve's way of beginning to doubt the magnitude and blessing of God's provision. Rather than rejoice at what God had given, she downplayed it.
Girl should have said, "Are you kidding me, snake!? God is so so so so so good! He has built this amazing place for us. It's the Garden of Eden. It's paradise. It's for us to roam and play and love and enjoy Him in. Our family will thrive here forever. You crazy, brah."
But, no. She doubted. She began believing God had given less than the best.
Mistake 3: Making the Prohibition More Stringent
Eve's third mistake was to make the command of God sound more stringent than it was. She said God told them not to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (3).
But God had never said such a thing. He'd only told them not to eat the fruit. So this was her addition.
This is the introduction of legalism into our world. She took something God said and made it more severe.
This mistake drives me batty because I see it all the time. It holds people back from the gospel. Jesus comes along and offers His mercy and grace. Then legalists come along and add to the gospel, making good news bad news.
Yes, there is a disciple-life that follows true allegiance to Jesus. And that life is hard enough. It makes you different. It's the best life, but that doesn't mean it's easy. So when legalism comes along and adds to God's word, saying, "Don't drink. Don't listen to music. Don't enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Don't have fun," it is destructive.
There is ample place for personal convictions which go above and beyond Scripture. If you think God is leading you to deny liberties, go for it. Throw away your TV. Never drink a glass of wine. Only listen to worship music. Only shop at thrift stores. Eat vegan. But please don't take your personal convictions, things that go above and beyond the demands of Scripture, and tell others they must adopt them. They don't. They must obey the clear word of God, not your personal convictions.
Again, as a believer, there is plenty I cannot and will not do. Why add to the list? The disciple life following Jesus is a hard path. Why make it harder?
Mistake 4: Weakening the Penalty
Finally, Eve's fourth mistake was to weaken the penalty. God said, "In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17). The New Eve Version said, "Lest you die. Maybe. It might happen. Eat this, and you could die. It's a possibility" (3).
And all these mistakes stemmed from a lack of adherence to, allegiance to, or knowledge of God's word. She either didn't know it very well, had forgotten it, or purposefully allowed herself to twist it to her own destruction.
But weakness in the word led her into error.
This weakness I'm talking about isn't just an ignorance regarding Scripture. It was a mentality. She came to God's word with doubts about God. She didn't like what He'd said. She thought He might be holding back from them. With that mentality, she was sure to poke holes in His Word.
And as she messed with Scripture, she took the L. She lost big time.
This helps us prepare for what's coming in Genesis and the rest of the Bible. If Eve's disaster was precipitated by her carelessness in the Word, we would expect the rest of the Bible to declare the importance of the Word. We should find people who clung to the Word and were granted victory. We should see the Scripture valued highly by God. And this is exactly what we will find.
The message to Israel, and to all God’s people, should now be clear: A thorough knowledge of the Word of God and an unwavering trust in the goodness of God are absolutely essential for spiritual victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Allen P. Ross, Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis, 137.
Amen.
