Tuesday: Deceived by the Evidence
Read Genesis 3:4-6. What are the principles that led to Adam and Eve’s
Image © Jeff Preston from GoodSalt.com
downfall? What can we learn from their experience that can help us to deal with whatever temptations we face, as well?
Satan was successful in drawing Eve into conversation and in raising doubts about what God said and why. Now he tells Eve that God is not telling the truth and provides an explanation for God’s motive behind His forbidding them to eat of the fruit. According to Satan, God is withholding something good in order to keep Adam and Eve below their full potential. In doing so, Satan builds on his previous question about whether God has withheld some of the trees from them.
Eve uses three lines of evidence that lead her to the conclusion that she would benefit from eating the fruit. First, she sees that the tree is good for food. Perhaps she has observed the serpent eating the fruit. He may have commented on how good it tasted. It’s interesting that though Adam and Eve had been told not to eat of it, she notices that it is “good for food.” Talk about a conflict between the senses and a clear “Thus saith the Lord!”
A second line of evidence that convinces Eve to eat the fruit is that it is pleasant to the eyes. No doubt all the fruit in the garden is beautiful, but for some reason, Eve is especially attracted to the fruit that Satan is offering her.
The supposed power of the fruit to make one wise is a third reason that Eve wants to eat of the fruit. The serpent has assured her that eating the fruit will expand her knowledge and make her like God. Of course, the sad irony here is, according to the Bible, she already is like God (Gen. 1:27).
We are told that Eve was deceived, but Adam was not (1 Tim. 2:14). If Adam was not deceived, why did he eat? Adam consciously disobeyed God, choosing to follow Eve rather than God. How often is this same kind of behavior seen today? How easily we can be tempted by what others say and do, regardless of how contrary their words and actions are to the Word of God. Adam listened to Eve instead of to God, and the rest is the nightmare known as human history (see Rom. 5:12-21).
(0)
This lesson reminds us that Satan's door for passage into our lives is through deception. The minute we engage our minds in conversation with his deceptions (when we start thinking whether sin is really wrong and bad for us) we are give him permission to destroy the faith we have in Jesus. If this detrimental behavior of ours is kept up, our enemy will destroy our very souls. Our challenge is to daily arm ourselves with God's Word and praying for our faith to be firmly founded in Christ Jesus, so that we do not doubt what God has told us through His Word. The admonition we receive from Peter (1Pet5:8) to be sober and vigilant should be taken more seriously than many of us do. Sometimes, we may even find ourselves being questioned and challenged by others about our obedience to God and here my brothers and sisters we are to be 'as wise as serpents and harmless as doves' (Mat 10:16) for we are in the 'midst of wolves'.
Thank you brother and GOD bless.
It is so important not to have a conversation with the devil, one has to be so focus on God to win the devil, he is a decepter who is very cunning and evil he knows how to get his way around us as Christian. Our duty is to converse with God and not with the devil
Its important for us to have a close r/ship with God thru i) Bible readings and studies ,ii) prayers iii) observing nature and lastly meditation. Only then can we not wander away from Him and be safe from satanic deceptions
Do we have potential to resist sin?
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you". James 4.7
The Spirit of Prophecy Vol 1 under the chapter "The Temptation and Fall" records that in the midst of the garden (Eden) near the tree of Life, was a tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. This tree was especially designed of God to be the pledge of their obedience, faith and love to Him. God did not place evil out of the way of the first couple or He did not see it fit to place them beyond the power of disobedience and so Satan was permitted to tempt them. If they overcame the temptation which by the way was only on the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they would have been eternally secure. They would have been equal with Angels and been dressed with immortality. 1 Corinthians 10:13 clearly states that God will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will with temptation also provide a way of escape. Do we therefore have the potential to resist sin? Joseph did in Potiphar’s home in Eqypt, the three Hebrew boys did and the seven times heated burning furnace became a meeting place with one like the Son of Man, Daniel did and had a friendly meeting with Lions in their own den. Failure by Eve to resist the temptation through a lower creature over which they had dominion and the willingness by Adam to side with the wife in the fall is a clear testimony that “Women suffer from lack of analysis and men from fear of vunerability (please no offense intended. Yet if Adam refused to eat the fruit, God would have His own way with the fallen Eve and for Adam, God would have created another Eve for him.
Is this not the same today? Satan tries to tell us that creation did not take place in seven literal days.
I think it's useful to note that concerning each item of evidence, the serpent told the truth.
The tree and its fruit were created by God, so there is no reason to believe that the fruit itself was poisonous, or anything less than delicious. It's nutritional value was, no doubt, excellent.
In the same way, it was no doubt attractive. Once again, God had created it, and made it good.
And the Serpent was very carefully accurate about wisdom. She would become like God, knowing good and evil. The operative words here are "and evil." Up until they distrusted God, they had known only good, only pleasure, only bliss. Upon eating the fruit, they would indeed learn something new: they would experience evil for the first time.
So each "fact" the serpent stated was indeed accurate. The problem was, the facts were a distraction.
God had not said the fruit was poisonous or even unpleasant. He had not contended that it was ugly or repulsive. He had warned them that they would indeed experience something new should they eat of it.
On those three data points, God and the serpent did not disagree. But the only question that mattered was, "Will you die if you eat of it?" And on that question, Eve had no evidence. The serpent said one thing, God another. The unstated, but central question for Eve was, "Who do you trust?"
For those who are interested, I go into this in some depth
on video
here, http://youtu.be/X6c7vtL-LDY
here, http://youtu.be/MyDnM5nyeik
and here: http://youtu.be/lYkzUe2WjoY
Eve could have resisted this temptation if she well to be by the side of her husband. Likely, the can flee from temptations if only she will stick to her husband: thus the biblical teaching.
True..'Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him.'Ecc4:9 Even if we do not have spouses, it is wise to have a friend who is also firmly established in the faith.
We, as we give heed to Satan's sugestions are treading on dangerous grounds. Stay with the Word of God at all times and we are safe. That is the only course that is safe for us. Trust God and His Word and live; listen to Satan and die . THe choise is ours.
Dear Friends,
We must also realize that Satan in his ruse stimulates all the good senses that god has created in us for the enjoyment of nature. The serpent and the fruit were pleasant to Eve's sight, and quickly appealed to her taste while satan who perhaps had a beautiful voice spoke to her hearing to convince her that she would become wiser. It is essential that we keep a clear vision regarding the purpose of creation. The garden was perfect and even after the fall, nature is as as beautiful as can be, but satan continues to utilize God's handy work to his advantage in order to deceive us. Eve and Adam lost track of that vision and ceded to the purpose of the devil. However, God in his infinite wisdom had already formulated the plan of redemption to rescue the entire creation. Let us seek the wisdom to discern good from evil and choose the way to eternal life.
Beautifully laid out.
I give God the glory for this wonderful lesson. but, my question is, did God knew that Man will fail?
if God knows then, we should not forget that somehow Man will still fail. Thank God we all have the opportunity to learn from experience. and we should not take our first parent's failure as an excuse to continue in sin. God will help us to overcome the temptation amen.
Does it imply that we ourselves indulge into sin by involving satan from the case of EVE?
Satan deceives us every single day! Eve trusted the serpent,and fell into his trap. Adam was also guilty,because he believed Eve instead of God. We,as Seventh-day Adventists,should be on the lookout for that serpent,also known as Satan. God wanted Adam and Eve to stay in the garden forever,BUT they disobeyed him,so they could not live in the garden any more. But God had a plan,a plan to save us. That's why God sent His son,Jesus,to die for us. God be with you,as you strive to tell others about Him and His love. God bless you and your family!!!!!!!!
As our first parents especially our mother, Eve, was deceived by the serpent to disobey God's command, we also face the same challenges today for Satan make a sin to be like a normal and good thing for a christian to do and at the end, we fall short of the glory of God.
It is safe to say that this instance was going to be the last day of innocence for our parents, I have seen the innocent trust disappear in relationships when someone lies or does something contrary to what is right and that relationship changes completely. This was the experience of Adam and Eve to realize that you have lost something you will never regain a link so delicate you are not aware its there till its gone. I am so happy that God did not leave them to that old serpent but that the plan of salvation was already there to save and that in time my Savior would come to redeem me. Thank you Father for loving me so much you would not let me or any of us go. Glory to God in the highest.
There is sin we are deceived into committing, and sin we consciously commit. Both are represented here by Adam and Eve. IF they would have submitted their questions to God instead of their own reasoning, they would not have sinned. Relationship with God is the only path which leads to righteousness.
The lesson title reminds me of some of our educated, scientifically literate Seventh-day Adventists who no longer believe that the biblical account of creation tells the actual history of the planet.
They look at the evidence: The earth appears to be older than 10,000 years, according to radiometric dating. And, according to the understanding of geologists, the many layers of sediment in some parts of the world make clear that the earth is at least millions of years old, if not billions.
They are being "deceived by the evidence."
Thus the same sort of deception is still happening today by looking at the "evidence" without taking God's revelation into account.
(By the way, I believe that the physical "evidence" can be satisfactorily interpreted to harmonize with the biblical account. See our Creation Science page for more details.
Genesis never claims the earth was created 6000 years ago. The earth had already been here, formless. And why does this even matter so much to your salvation?
I think in this case two heads is better then one.
Lets engage not in the conversation with the devil because it costs much, its results are not good. Satan mixed a little lie in the truth but all resulted a big lie.
Even today people mix lie with the word of God and it ends with suffering, tears and death.
If we stand by the Lord the devil can not do a damage to us.
"Adam listened to Eve instead of to God,"; in the same way that people listen to and accept church doctrine or man-made traditions over the word of God (Bible).