"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”Genesis 3:1-5.
The purpose of the deception was to place humanity under sin and condemnation. However, there is much more to it, as we will learn through this lesson.
Studying this passage, you may realize that, in order for the deception to work, the devil had to offer Eve some incentive …for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…
In the garden, Adam and Eve enjoyed a close relationship with God. They had dominion over all that was there. They were walking and living under Divine authority. However, they didn’t know and they could not even imagine that all of this – their fellowship, authority, and dominion – could be lost in a split second.
In addition, aside from losing everything, they would also become victims of the deception – powerless and hopeless.
The devil knew that their curiosity would be high because of what God knew and what they did not know, and the serpent or the devil used that curiosity as a trigger: “…for God knows that you will be like Him, knowing good and evil.”
Just think for a moment. In the garden, the Lord was God over Adam and Eve. Their subjection was to Him alone. He was the only one before whom they would bow and whom they would serve and worship. Everything else was in subjection to them. Even the animals obeyed them! That was the actual plan of God for mankind from the beginning.
When God was walking with them in the coolness of the day, they were like friends. It is very possible that Adam and Eve were sure that nothing was hidden from them. So when they heard the words “For God knows that you will be like Him, knowing good and evil”, they became very curious.
The devil played a crafty emotional game with Eve’s mind. I would assume that Adam and Eve knew what good was. But did they really know what evil was like? That’s where the real deception was – pulling Adam and Even into that knowledge.
All evil is sin. Sin is a driving force that destroys people. It is just like a cancer. It slowly destroys you. God can deal with sin, because it is not a part of Him and He will never fall for it. But for Adam and Eve, as punishment for their disobedience, sin became their nature and the master over them.
The devil knew that to disobey God is sin, and he was the only one in the garden to make them disobey God. As soon as they fall into sin, they will surely know what evil is – it will make them weak, powerless, and hopeless. They will be cut off from the presence of God, losing fellowship, authority, dominion, and eternal life with God.
Instead of God being their Master, sin became their master. God departed from them, and the authority, dominion, and power was gone as well.
The consequences were great. Poverty, hard work, painful labor, sickness, and disease were inherited. Man became weak against sin and the devil.
We become slaves to everything that becomes stronger than us.
In Romans 5:6, the Bible says: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Messiah died for the ungodly.” As you can see, the human race became weak and powerless because of Adam and Eve. This is why Adonai created the plan to redeem man from that weak and broken stage.
The Old Testament is built on sacrifices. God had to make sure that His chosen people,
Israel
, were following His instructions concerning sacrifice. It was laid out in detail which animals needed to be sacrificed for different sins. We could go on and on studying those sacrifices and their clear meaning. Adonai was educating
Israel
in order to reach the point where the Messiah would come and be the final sacrifice for sin. It was the end to what the devil did in the garden. It was through Messiah Yeshua, Jesus, that the complete redemption came – Kapparah – The Atonement.
However, when we accept Jesus our Messiah as our personal Savior and Lord, we will be free from sin and eternal death. Our relationship with Adonai will be restored, and we will walk in victory over sin and the devil! Without Jesus the Messiah, people are still walking in the darkness, and are powerless against sin and the devil. You may experience good things in your life. You may be the wealthiest person, the most successful and prestigious, but still be hopeless and without strength because of sin.
I pray that this revelation will come to you today, and that you will be set free!
Shalom |
