Now the serpent was shrewder than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’” Genesis 3:1-3
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the highest point of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him. Then the devil left him, and angels came and began ministering to his needs. Matthew 4:1-11
New English Translation
What is the difference between Eve and Jesus here? The big thing is that Jesus fought the devil with the words of God.
You’re probably confused. Didn’t Eve tell Satan what God had told them when he tempted her? Actually, no, she didn’t. She gave the rough idea, but then she did a big no-no. Eve actually changed what God said. You’re probably going, “say what?!” right now, and possibly considering writing off this blog as heresy. But, before you report me to the nearest pastor, take a closer look at what God actually said compared to what Eve said.
The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it. Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:15-17
Now the serpent was shrewder than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’” Genesis 3:1-3
New English Translation
Eve said that God told them they couldn’t eat or touch the fruit or they would die. God never said they couldn’t touch it, He only said not to eat it. So, Satan being crafty and smart knew that Eve didn’t know what she was talking about so he decided to catch her in a web of her own ignorance. Oh, Eve, did He really say you couldn’t eat from any tree? Yeah, he baited her into saying what she thought was truth, but was only a half truth of what God said.
Why is this important? Well, if Eve had known the truth that she would only die if she ate the fruit, then she would have been less easily swayed into sinning. See, since she believed that she would die as soon as she touched the fruit, when she was talked into touching it and didn’t die, she automatically assumed that God made up everything about dying, even concerning eating it. However, the only thing that was proven by her not dying when she touched the fruit was that Eve’s little addition to God’s words was wrong.
Now, let’s look at Jesus. Each time Satan tried to bait Jesus into doing something because “God said it” Jesus was able to stand up to Satan and realize that Satan was taking scripture out of context to fit his agenda. Then, going an even more amazing step further, Jesus took scripture and pointed out the truth to combat the lies.
What’s the lesson we can learn from both Eve and Jesus? First off, don’t add to God’s words. That causes a mess of problems and just ends up causing you pain in the future. Secondly, know the scripture and hear God’s voice for yourself. When you know what God has said, you can stand up and declare truth and not allow agendas and falsity sway you into sin!
Application you may ask? Easy! Read your Bible daily and pray constantly. If you know the Word of God for yourself, then you can do exactly what Jesus did and be able to sniff out an agenda seeking scripture twister from a mile away! Plus, if you are talking to God constantly, you’ll know exactly what He’s saying to you and because of that, you’ll be able to tell if someone really is speaking God’s words or are just making up their own stuff.
Don’t take others’ words for it when it comes to your faith. You need to know these things for yourself and get it straight from the source, otherwise you’re just leaving yourself open as an easy target for Satan. Keep yourself guarded and close to God.
