Resisting Satan's Temptations

Genesis 2:1-3:7

As we start the first full week of Lent, the first Scripture reading from the lectionary is from Genesis.  I will be focusing on the second half of the reading, in Chapter 3, with the temptation of Eve, and man’s fall from grace.  Let’s see what we can learn, to help us in our temptations.

In Chapter 2, verses 16 and 17, we read where God gave Adam instructions not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Adam had the freedom to choose whether to obey or not.  Man was created with free will.  We are not robots, where obedience and love would be hollow and meaningless.  After Eve was created, in verses 21 and 22, it is presumed that Adam would have told her the commands God had given him.

The tactics Satan used on Eve are still the same he uses today.  Now, in the first several verses of Chapter 3, the first thing Satan did when tempting Eve was to get her to question God’s Word (3:1).  “Did God really say….?”  That is still one tactic he uses frequently, getting people to question the Bible.  Then Satan misquoted God, saying whether He really said not to eat from any tree in the garden.  This would get Eve to question God’s goodness.  Satan essentially was saying to her, “That mean old God won’t let you eat from any of these nice trees!  How mean, cruel, and selfish!”  This is something he does to tempt us today.  “God won’t let you do anything!  Following and obeying God will only make you miserable.”

Eve’s response to Satan was not completely correct (3:2-3).   She was correct that God had allowed them to eat from most the trees in the garden.  But then she stated that, not only could they not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they weren't to even touch it.  God had not said they couldn’t touch it.  As believers, and hopefully students of His Word, we need to know exactly what He says.  Correctly using the Word of God, our sword, we can fend off Satan’s attacks.

In response, Satan drops his biggest attack.  “You will not certainly die”, Satan said (3:4-5).  “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  Satan was saying that God is a liar, and that He’s mean and selfish, in addition to being a liar, hiding from Adam and Eve knowledge that He wants to keep for Himself.

On down through the centuries, Satan and his followers have been calling God and His Word liars.  Who is the liar, though?  As Jesus said later, in John 8:44, Satan is the liar.  He is the father of all lies, and also a murderer.  Though Adam and Eve didn't die immediately, they did die spiritually.  Their relationship with God died, and eventually they did die physically.

What could Eve have done to resist that temptation, and what can we do when also tempted?  It is not a sin to be tempted, but it becomes sin when we give in.  Eve could have cried out to God for help.  Every day God would walk in the Garden with Adam and Eve, talking with them.  She could have called on Him for His help.  He is always available when we call on Him.  Eve could also have run away when Satan attacked her with temptation.  When temptation got strong, Joseph ran away from Potiphar's wife when she came after him.  David would have been wise to do that when he came upon Bathsheba.

We need to be wise to Satan’s tactics and schemes against us, so we can effectively fight against him.  II Cor. 2:11.  The way to do that is to get in the Word of God, study it, and use it as the sword it is.