JAN 22

Genesis 3:1-7
Memorise 2 Corinthians 11:3
“And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said…”

Make no mistake – Satan is an extremely crafty, cunning and shrewd individual. He is also very driven, bent on opposing God. Despite how good God’s creation was, and how perfect an environment Adam and Eve had, Satan managed to incite in them the lust to want something more than what they had, and thus to rebel against the simple command that God had given them. How did he accomplish this? We realise that his method was to attack God’s Word.

He first subtly questioned the Word of God, by asking Eve, “Yea hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1). In so doing, he cast doubt on what she knew of God’s gracious provision for them to eat of every tree in the garden (Genesis 2:16). It was a statement that questioned God’s goodness, subtly implying that God was selfish in not allowing them to eat of some trees in the garden. In response to this, Eve gave a rather shaky response, where in her haste to defend God, she misquoted God’s commands by omitting the word ‘freely’ and adding the phrase ‘neither shall ye touch it’. She also weakened the warning, from ‘ye shall surely die’ to ‘lest ye die’ (compare Genesis 3:2-3 with Genesis 2:16-17).

Satan then pounced on Eve’s uncertain knowledge of God’s Word by boldly denying and adding to God’s Word. He declared to her, “Ye shall not surely die”, which was a direct contradiction to God’s warning that they will most certainly die (Genesis 2:17). Instead, he told her that if they ate of the fruit, then their eyes would be opened, and they could then be as gods! These were all half-truths, no different from lies, specially designed to deceive Eve and cause her to doubt God and His Word. Yet the lie was something alluring and attractive to Eve. What she heard was a promise that she could be like Elohim. (In Hebrew, the word ‘elohim’ refers to ‘gods’. ‘Elohim’ is also a title referring to God himself.) To her, God was good, and the only ‘elohim’ she knew. The impression given to her was that she could become as God, and surely that was a good thing wasn’t it?

Indeed Satan is the Father of lies (John 8:44), and will stop at nothing to deceive and tempt us to sin as well.

Thought: What sort of lies would Satan tell us to tempt us to sin?

Prayer: Lord, may I have the wisdom to discern and know the truth of Thy Word, and to stand against the wiles of the Devil.