Temptation in a Nutshell

Temptation in a Nutshell
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good from evil." Genesis 3:5

Have you ever ordered something that looked really great in the catalog but when it arrives it is a lot smaller than the catalog made it look, it is cheaply made and it breaks the first time you try it out?

That is what the promises of the devil are like. Man ate the forbidden fruit, his eyes were opened, like God he now knew good from evil, BUT he was not like God. And now he was less than the man he was before.

In the Garden of Eden there were two trees, one was the tree of life and one was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9) But only one was forbidden. (Genesis 2:17) God put Adam in the garden and warned him not to eat from that one tree then He made Eve. (Genesis 2:22)

Now skip ahead, and I mean skip because we go from Genesis 2:25 with the man and his wife and go straight into the account of the fall of man. Not one word about how they got along in the garden, when they slept, where they lived, what their meals were like, what they talked about. We just learn that they were naked and unashamed. And then the serpent shows up Chapter 3 verse 1.

Second-hand Knowledge

The first thing that occurred to me is that God never told the woman not to eat the apple, she knew but her knowledge was imperfect. (Genesis 3:3) I can just imagine that conversation. There they are walking through the garden picking berries and eating. Then Eve reaches out to pluck an apple and Adam snatches her hand back. “Don’t,” he says, “God has forbidden us to eat of the fruit of that tree. Don’t even touch it!”

That was the cue for the crafty devil. He didn’t go to the man who got his information straight from God. He went to the woman who knew God and knew the law but her knowledge was imperfect. That is why it is important to read the word of God and talk to God rather than assuming what someone tells you about the will of God is completely accurate.

Life and Death

The second thing that occurred to me was the fact that Satan tempted them with death rather than life. The fruit of the Tree of Life was not forbidden. Only the Tree of Death was forbidden. There follows a description of temptation in a nutshell.

Temptation in a Nutshell

1) Doubt: Did God really say? Followed by an outrageous and untrue statement: ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden.’ (Genesis 3:1)

2) Distortion: Using imperfect knowledge to counter the outrageous lie. Eve didn’t ask God to clarify, she didn’t even ask Adam and he was standing right there. It is only the word of God that effectively counters temptation. Which left Eve open to Satan’s second move. (Genesis 3:2)

3) Rejection: “You will not surely die,” Absolute rejection of God’s word followed by a suggestion that God lied. (Genesis 3:4)

4) The promise of a good outcome: “you will be like God.” (Genesis 3:5)

5) The consequence: The consequence of eating poison is never good. (Genesis 3:7) God knows that which is why He forbids us to ingest poison.
He does not lie and His laws are not designed to wreck our fun, they are designed to keep us healthy.

Satan is a tempter not a temptress

And the last thing I noticed was that Eve did not tempt Adam. He was there during the entire conversation. He knew the law, he got it straight from God and yet he stood passive while the serpent talked. Eve handed him the apple, but he ate it.

What excuse can we offer?

Which begs the question, if we know the law, and we do, and if we got it straight from God, and we did, then what excuse can we offer when we stand passively by while Satan talks?

And if we know the law, and we do, and if we got it straight from God, and we did, then what excuse can we possibly offer when we start munching on apples?

Simple – Ain’t – Easy
But we better pay attention
Wendy