Battle For The Truth (Part 16)
Notes
Transcript
The First Lie Ever Told
The First Lie Ever Told
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.
Introduction
Our last time together, we looked at the character of the serpent. The text indicated that he was “more subtle/crafty” than all of the beasts of the field that the LORD God had made. We defined what the word subtle/crafty meant and examined how the serpent fulfilled this definition. His craftiness can be seen in the question proposed to Eve. The fact that he asked Eve a question that he already knew the answer to reveals the true nature of his craftiness.
How else would the serpent know to ask a question about what God said, if he was not there when God said it? Please understand, the devil knows the word of God. He simply misquotes, misinterprets, and misapplies it to cause people to sin. This alone should put us all on high alert!
Side note:
Notice that even the serpent knew it would be foolish to argue the existence of God. Yet, some people are so lost that they take a position that even the devil and his demons do not take. As the Apostle James wrote, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” James 2:19
Observe how crafty an approach this was. Eve had no idea what she was getting herself into. Understand that at the heart of craftiness is concealment and deceit. Included in the deceit is the planting of a thought that seduces the mind in a particular direction. Again, as we said before, craftiness or shrewdness are not evil in and of themselves.
A topnotch salesman possesses this attribute, which is why people often buy things that they do not need or buy things that do not work as they were sold. A shrewd attorney knows how to plant thoughts in the minds of jurors. As in the trial of O.J. Simpson, his attorney Johnny Cochran asserted, “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”
What the serpent is doing is planting a thought to sell a lie that God does not tell the truth and therefore cannot be trusted. As we again look at the beginning of the end of life in the Garden of Eden, one thought rather sums up my thinking and observation—apparently, good was not good enough. Despite living in utopia, complete satisfaction and contentment seemed elusive. You see, satisfaction or contentment is a blessed state of mind.
The world is replete with people who either “have it good” or “had it good,” with health, wealth, and fame. Yet, contentment does not or did not undergird their blessed condition or circumstances. They had a continual yearning and thirst for more, or different, or next, or new. In reality, the key to contentment is not stuff or people, but godliness.
Godliness is generally defined as “appropriate beliefs and devout practice of obligations relating to supernatural persons and powers,[1]” which in this this case is none other than God. Thus, the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6:6, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”
Paul also writes in 1 Timothy 4:8, “For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” Amen somebody.
[1] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 530). New York: United Bible Societies.
Vv. 2-3 – “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.”
At this point we really need to pay close attention to the exchange between Eve and the serpent. There are two issues with Eve’s response to the serpent’s question: (1) She left out the word “every,” and, (2) She added the words, “neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”
I am aware that some might view this distinction as a trivial matter or charge that I am being unfairly critical. But that depends on whether you take a low or high view of Scripture. A low view of Scripture puts less emphasis in accurately quoting and interpreting the Scripture as long as you are sincere and are in the ballpark of what it says.
Whereas, the high view is anchored to the 2 Timothy 3:16-17 depiction of Scripture, which is that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (17) That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
The high view holds that every word of Scripture is inspired by God, down to the jot and tittle. As we have seen from the Beginning, what God says, has Authority. “For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:9
Side note:
The text suggests that Eve has made her way to the midst of the Garden where the fruit of the forbidden tree is located. Why she is there we know not. Nevertheless, she is where she should not be—the place of temptation. And, unless you are Jesus Christ, the place of temptation is never a good place for anybody to be. Many a soul have made shipwreck of their lives because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Amen somebody.
Eve does not appear to be surprised by her encounter with the talking serpent. Perhaps it was not the first time they had a conversation. We are not provided any further detail as to the ability of the serpent or any other creature to speak and be understood by Adam and Eve. Scripture records God enabling Balaam’s ass to speak (Numbers 22:28), so there is ample reason to believe that this account of a talking serpent is also true, and obviously, the serpent took full advantage of the situation.
Eve’s inaccurate quoting of the word of God in her response to the serpent’s question provided him the opportunity to plant a seed of doubt in Eve’s mind. In addition to leaving out the word “every,” Eve added the words “neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Furthermore, God put emphasis on what the consequences of disobedience. God said, “ye shall surely die.”
So, where did she get this part of the command? Nowhere do we read where God said regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “do not touch it.” Since there is no evidence that God ever gave instructions personally to Eve on this matter, we must conclude that she received it from her husband—Adam.
However, in all fairness to Adam, neither do we find evidence that he gave her these specific instructions. After all, she could have been misquoting him as well. I’m just saying… Nevertheless, be that as it may, we do have indisputable evidence that God gave the command directly to Adam.
Side note:
If Adam in his zeal to protect Eve gave her the instruction not to “touch it,” he did her a grave disservice. Adding our own restrictions to the word of God lacks divine authority, sets a false standard, and adds confusion to God’s clear teaching. Misinterpreting and adding prohibitions to the word of God continues to this day.
There are protestant denominations that restrict activities such as dancing, playing cards or dominoes, women wearing makeup, and consuming any amount of alcoholic beverages. And the list goes on. However, the problem is there is no book, chapter and verse that clearly supports their teaching on these issues. Amen somebody.
Enough cannot be said about the necessity to quote God’s word accurately, interpret it correctly, and apply it appropriately. The word of God and our adherence to it is the only weapon that will defeat the serpent/devil. (See Matthew 4:1-11) Amen somebody.
Vv. 4-5 – “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.”
Now comes the lie, “Ye shall not surely die” In other words, God is not telling the truth. This is the first shot fired in the Battle For The Truth. The serpent has now thrown shade and cast doubt upon the word of God. Like a topnotch salesman, the serpent senses the advantage and moves in to close the deal.
He embellishes the lie by saying, “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.” Here is the first distortion about being “woke.”
Included in the serpent’s lie about Eve not dying is his lying rationale why God said what He said. Notice the word “For,” which means reason or cause. The serpent said, the reason God restricts you from eating the fruit and threatened you with death is because He knows that you will become “woke” like the gods or elohim.
The insinuation was that Eve was ignorant of her potential and that she was missing out on a more fulfilling and less restrictive level of living—the god level. In other words, you can be independent, a free agent.
You can be like a god without needing to depend upon God. Hence, the battleline has been drawn and the issue is clear: either God is telling the truth and the devil is a liar or the devil is telling the truth and God is a liar. They both cannot be right.
Conclusion
I hate to leave you dangling, but in order not to hold you too long, I believe I will close here. At this point in the narrative, we see Eve in her unfallen innocence at a critical crossroad in life—believe God or believe the serpent. On display is not only her innocence but also her freewill.
The serpent is enticing but not forcing her to make the wrong choice. The same is true of men and women today. We cannot blame others when we make wrong choices—particularly when it comes to moral choices. Like Eve, we have the word of God and we have the word of the serpent.
The battleline in this Battle For The Truth is clearly drawn and a decision must be made. Next time we will review the choice that Eve made and what motivated her to make it. So, until next time, may God richly bless you my beloved.