Sometimes, It's Hard...To Be...A Woman

Did anyone hear the song in their head. No? Anyway...

Consequences, consequences. Usually when we use the word consequences…it’s not good. We’ve seen the consequences for the serpent and that mostly worked out good for us, but today we’ll look at what God said to Eve…the consequences for her…and therefore all women. Read what God said to Eve in Genesis 3:16.

To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

As the mother of two, I wonder what in the world childbirth would have been like if not painful. Like the serpent who would now “crawl on [his] belly and eat dust for all the days of [his] life,” there is a physical consequence for the woman. In God’s mercy, she will still give birth, but again, there is a cost. It will be painful. Now let me tell you, I thanked God the entire time I was in the hospital for epidurals. Seriously. But still I did not escape the pain that comes with childbearing. I have a strong suspicion this is a larger reference. Let me explain…

My younger sister was the first to get pregnant in our family. We couldn’t have been happier. At 17 weeks, it was discovered her baby had severe birth defects, including his heart, caused by a chromosome disorder. Her baby died a couple of weeks later and it was one of our darkest moments. Pain in childbearing.

Before I was pregnant with my first daughter, I had a miscarriage. I was devastated. I hadn’t told my friends and family that I was pregnant so what would I say? I even felt guilty for being so sad because I didn’t feel it compared to the pain my sister had been through. Pain in childbearing.

A son is devastated at not making the basketball team…
A teenage daughter struggles with her lack of popularity…
A child screams, “I hate you!” when you have to discipline them…
Pain in childbearing.

As my children grow, I know that there will be pain. I know there will be times my heart will be broken either for them or by them. I know there were times I brought my own parents pain. It’s not just the act of giving birth that is painful but all of mothering children has become more painful as a result of sin. In God’s mercy, it has AMAZING moments and aspects…but as a result of sin, there is also now pain.

The second consequence is very important to understand as well. And it might explain a lot to you. I know it was an “Aha!” moment for me. It’s a little confusing at first but when we break down the language, I hope it will make a little more sense to you. Reread Genesis 3:16.

To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

Sounds a little confusing doesn’t it? But I think there is a little something lost in translation. I was listening to a series of sermons by Tommy Nelson of Denton Bible Church on women in the Bible. Naturally, the first woman in the series was the first woman, Eve. While listening to his sermon, I learned that a more literal meaning might be, “Your desire will be [to rule over] your husband, and he will rule over you.” Now that’s a little different isn’t it? The word translated “desire” comes from the Hebrew word Teshuwqah(#8669). This word can refer to sexual desire, but it has another meaning as well. Look at Genesis 4:7 where the same Hebrew word is used.

“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

Clearly this is a different kind of desire isn’t it? The word used in Genesis 3:16 can mean sexual desire, but when it comes to your husband, that would be a blessing, not a curse. It is also used in terms of overcoming, “like a crouching animal ready to pounce.”

It still may not make sense to you so let me put it to you this way. Who wears the pants in your family? Who is the spiritual leader in your home, the one involved in Bible study, the one who makes sure everyone gets to church? Who makes the final call when there is a decision to be made? If you are blessed to be in a home where your husband is the spiritual leader, do you ever struggle with submitting to his authority? Have you ever wondered why it’s so difficult at times? IT’S PART OF THE CONSEQUENCES! Our sin nature wants the authority but God ordered things so that the husband is the one charged with that responsibility.

I’m not saying it’s easy friends. For the women, I know for a fact that LOTS of you struggle with this. And men, it’s not easy for you either. If this whole submission thing is new to you and seems old fashioned or unfair, I get it. I’ve been there. Let me just say, it doesn’t mean what you think it means. If you have specific questions, drop me a note and I would love to talk about it some more. But for those of you who know the Biblical meaning of submission, maybe this helps explain why it’s so hard with your husband sometimes. Anyway, on that note, next time we’ll look at what God had to say to Adam…

I'm Covered...Or Am I?

So, Adam and Eve realized they were naked. What happens next is going to be something we can all relate to whether we want to admit it or not. Look again at Genesis 3:7:

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

They tried to cover themselves. Hmmm. Isn’t that what we do? Try to cover our sin?

Adam and Eve used fig leaves. What do we try to cover ourselves with?

I have tried through the years to cover myself with good deeds, acts of service, quiet times, tithes, etc, as if any of it would take care of my sin problem and my separation from God. What does scripture say about the coverings we make for ourselves? Earlier in this study, we looked up Isaiah 64:6.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…

Those fig leaves are like filthy rags. But…we do need to be covered. Soon we will get to the clothing that covers all our sin and makes us righteous before God, but first let’s look at what else Adam and Eve do. Read Genesis 3:8:

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

They covered themselves with fig leaves and sensing that it still wasn’t enough, they hid. Again, can you relate? We all try to hide our sin. We hide it from other people, we even hide it from ourselves by refusing to think about it and somehow, in doing this, we think we are hiding it from God. Let’s go to scripture again to see what God has to say about that. Look at Hebrews 4:13:

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

So we see Adam and Eve attempt to cover their sin and hide from God, both of which are impossible by the way. There was sin and there would be serious consequences. There were three involved in the incident and all will suffer the consequences for it and we’re going to look at it all a little more closely. If we don’t understand the consequences, we’ll never understand the grace. God had words for the serpent, for Eve, and finally, for Adam. Today let’s look at what God said to the serpent.

Read Genesis 3:14-15:

So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

First, God tells the serpent he will be cursed…“Cursed…above all the livestock and all the wild animals.” So what does that mean exactly? The word translated as “cursed” is the Hebrew word ‘Arar. This word occurs 63 times in the Old Testament. It “has been interpreted as meaning to bind, to hem in with obstacles, to render powerless to resist.” Then God said, “you will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.” This seems a little more obvious. Doesn’t this bring the image of a snake to mind? Apparently, the serpent had some other way of getting around before, but now will be crawling on its belly and eating dust.

Let’s read the second part again. Verse 15 says that God will put enmity between the serpent and the woman and between the serpent’s offspring and hers and that he will crush the serpent's head and the serpent will strike his heel. What do you think this means? Don’t know? That’s okay because I’m happy to tell you we’re getting to the GOOD NEWS! The Gospel! But wait, let’s slow down and take a good close look.

Now, the head of anything is its most important part. We can live without several of our body parts, but not without our heads (though sometimes I feel I’ve lost mine). The head of a company is the big boss, the one in charge. The head of the serpent being crushed means that the serpent will be defeated once and for all. An offspring of the woman would ultimately destroy the serpent for good. Any idea who that might be?

That’s right! This is the part where we see Jesus was there from the very beginning! So there’s no mistaking, get your Bible out. I want you to see in black and white where it is recorded that Jesus is Adam and Eve’s offspring. Look at Luke 3 starting in verse 23 and then scan through to verse 38. Seriously, stop and get your Bible.

Isn’t that awesome? But lest we take this lightly, there is an addendum to the promise that the woman’s offspring would crush the serpent’s head. Verse 15 ends with, “and you will strike his heel.” What do you think that means?

When you think of someone crushing a serpent’s head, what part of the body would they use? I would imagine it’s a foot. But that foot that crushes the head will be wounded. There is a cost involved. That cost is the cross. That "heel" delivers a death blow to the head but is itself wounded.

Look at Isaiah 53:4-10 and consider for yourself all the words and phrases that describe what “strike his heel” looked like at the cross. Please take your time with this and consider the cost.

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

Wow. Can you see Jesus? It is powerful stuff and it is good news for us. Next time (and I swear I won’t take so long next time) we will go backwards a little bit and look at the specific consequences for Eve. We'll quickly discover how those consequences affect us all. But don’t forget there is good news.

Until then, consider how you are attempting to cover your own sin and how truly insufficient that cover is. We will soon talk about an effective covering that brings complete forgiveness and freedom.

I’d love to hear from you!

They Realized They Were Naked

I'm hoping I got your attention with my title. :) I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks but I haven’t abandoned looking at the story of Adam and Eve. It's been busy around here with work and the high school football season coming to a close. So I’m just going to jump right in.

I really find this next part interesting. We looked at the progression of sin and broke it down into Take Notice, Taken Over, Take Actions, and Take Others. We touched on the consequences of our sin. But today we’re going to go a little deeper and take a close look at the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin and what it means for all of us. Yesterday we looked at the twisted words, at what they said. Today we’ll look at what they did and what the consequences were. Look at Genesis 3:7-13.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

So let’s start breaking down what they did. Verse 7 says, “...the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked...” I have to say that when I started digging a little deeper into this story it made me think, “What’s the deal with them being naked? Why did that suddenly matter? They were naked before; did they really not realize it? They were husband and wife and God had never told them they needed clothes. It was perfectly appropriate for them to be naked. Genesis 2:25, the last verse before the serpent comes on the scene, tells us, “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” So. What was it about sin that made them want to cover their nakedness?” Let me tell you, what I found was fascinating!

First, I looked up the word “naked” in the original language, Hebrew. Here’s what I found. The Hebrew word used here is ‘Arowm or ‘Arom meaning “to be nude or naked”. Okay, no big deal right? But I want you to look at another word. Read Genesis 3:1 again.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.

Now this word “crafty” in Hebrew is ‘Aruwm. Looks similar doesn’t it? Here’s the fascinating part. Both words come from the same root word ‘Aram. Why is that interesting? Here is the definition in my Key Word Study Bible Lexicon.

‘Aram; this root means to be bare, to be smooth; to be cunning, to be crafty; to act craftily, to form a cunning plan, to deal subtly; to act prudently. Since it is a neutral term, the context determines the nuance.

Can you see what I’m getting at? “The context determines the nuance.” So I ask you, in context, what definition makes the most sense? Yes they were “bare” and “smooth” so they were naked, but is it possible that when their eyes were opened, they saw that they were “crafty”? Could it be that what they saw was that they were like the serpent? I don’t know for sure, I’m just saying. Interesting.

There are many commentaries on what it means that they “realized they were naked.” No matter what, their nakedness was now shameful and they tried to cover themselves and that’s what we’ll look at next. In the meantime consider…have you realized that you are naked before God? What does that mean? And what are you going to do about it?

So What To Do?

So sin and temptation isn’t unique to Adam and Eve and it isn’t unique to you and me. All of mankind has been enticed by his or her own evil desire. Let’s look at another example in scripture of this progression. Read 2 Samuel 11 and read verses 1-17:

David and Bathsheba
In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?” Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!” Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.” So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

What part of the story describes when David TOOK NOTICE?

In what way did David move to the next step until he was TAKEN OVER?

David definitely TAKES ACTION. How?

In what ways did David TAKE OTHERS?

So what do we do? We know sin is progressive but how do we keep ourselves from playing things all the way out? We can’t always control what comes before our eyes. It’s what happens in our minds afterwards that can lead us down one road or another. We might TAKE NOTICE, but how do we keep from being TAKEN OVER? This is where the battle is won or lost. In the story of Adam and Eve, it says, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom…” Can you see the dramatic buildup even in this one little verse? “…good for food…pleasing to the eye…and also (dun, dun, duuuun) desirable for gaining wisdom…” What does all that mean? While doing research, I found that the Hebrew for the phrase “desirable for gaining wisdom” is venechmad ha'etz lehaskil which more literally translated means “desirable to contemplate”.

What do you think “desirable to contemplate” means? How could that fall into the sin category?

What is something that when you look at it, you are then tempted to spend some time with it in your mind, going to places in your head that you shouldn’t?

This is the key. Once you TAKE NOTICE of something, you come to a fork in the road. The battle is won or lost in the mind first. To win the battle, to keep from being TAKEN OVER, we must be properly equipped.

Read Ephesians 6:10-18 :

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of
peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

We could do an entire Bible study on these verses but I wanted you to get the point that we need to be protected with the “belt of truth” which holds everything else up and then armed with the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” If Eve had gone back to what she knew was true according to God’s word (Eve didn’t have a Bible so I mean His actual/literal words), she could have stood up to the serpent’s schemes. In order to arm ourselves, we need God’s Word. When we face temptation, He can then call those scriptures to mind. Romans 8:5 says,

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

I want to “set my mind” on what the Spirit desires. Let’s arm ourselves with some verses that we can commit to memory so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be victorious when we are tempted.

2 Corinthians 10:5
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Phil. 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

Psalm 119:37
Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.

Psalm 141:8
But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge – do not give me over to death.

Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

As we draw to a close today I am reminded that it is easy to be a little hard on Eve. If you thought you couldn’t relate to Eve, if you thought you might have done better if it had been you in the Garden of Eden, I hope today’s study has caused you to take a good honest look at your own heart and the depth of your sin. I don’t believe we can truly begin to fathom what Christ did for us on the cross, and can rely completely on Him as Savior until we acknowledge that we’ve got nothing to bring to the table.

I purposely used the word “take” when describing sin’s progression because I want us to remember that sin is a taker. Sin is selfish. Sin puts my eyes on me and not on God. Sin has consequences. We looked at the consequences for David. We considered the consequences in our own lives, and next we will take a deeper look at the consequences of sin for Adam and Eve and in turn, for all of mankind. But don’t get discouraged friends. God has provided a remedy for our situation and we’re going to get to it. So hang in there and stay with it!

If you have stuck with this very long post…thank you.

Sin: Who is to Blame?

Last time we looked at how and why we are tempted, and who does the tempting. I want to take it a little further this time. Look at James 1:13-15

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam had the audacity to put the blame on God and Eve first. He said in verse 12, “The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Eve doesn’t go so far as to blame God. Notice she doesn’t say, “The serpent you put here, he deceived me.” But she does blame the serpent for deceiving her and then admits she ate.

So what’s really going on here? Whose fault is it? Looking back at James 1:13 – 15, I think Eve got into trouble when she turned to her “own evil desire”. She got into trouble when she went from listening to God, to listening to the serpent, and from looking at the fruit, to looking at what was in it for Eve. She, “by her own evil desire”, is dragged away and enticed. Essentially, the serpent asked her, “But Eve, what do you want?”

Here is the verse again to refresh your memory. Genesis 3:6:

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Can you see the progression here?
1. Eve “saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye”
2. It was also “desirable for gaining wisdom”
3. She “took some and ate it”
4. She “gave some to her husband”

Sin is progressive. If we feed it, it grows. It starts with the eyes when we TAKE NOTICE. We don’t always have control over what comes into our line of sight, but when we linger on it, it often escalates to desire and we are TAKEN OVER. If we then feed that desire, if we are taken over, we will become increasingly agitated until we TAKE ACTION. Once we take action, we then TAKE OTHERS down with us. Even if we don’t intentionally seek to drag another person into our sin, our sin affects those around us. One of the lies we often tell ourselves about our sin is that it’s not hurting anyone else. But I can think of lots of examples, can you?

Now this situation isn’t unique to Adam and Eve and it isn’t unique to you and me. All of mankind has been enticed by his or her own evil desire. Let’s think through some possible scenarios. I will fill in the TAKE NOTICE. You fill in the rest. There’s no wrong answer here so really think it through and see what you come up with.

TAKE NOTICE = Had a fight with your husband last night and then see that cute guy at work who is always so nice.
TAKEN OVER =
TAKE ACTION =
TAKE OTHERS =

TAKE NOTICE = Watch a tv show about super skinny supermodels
TAKEN OVER =
TAKE ACTION =
TAKE OTHERS =

If you notice, no sin is happening in the initial phase. There might be something unwise for you personally in the TAKE NOTICE, but nothing inherently evil. We could probably think of lots of other examples. Sin has no prejudice. It can destroy us a million different ways. Next time we’ll look at another of the many examples in the Bible of this progression and how temptation is a struggle for even the most righteous men. But don’t despair, we will get to the, “So what do I do about it” part. Hang in there with me!

Bible Study - Why Do Diets Make Me Hungry?

Something about being on a diet makes me hungry. The moment I start thinking about how I shouldn’t eat something, that’s all I want to do. If I had been Eve, I wouldn’t have needed a lying serpent. I would have probably eaten the fruit the second God said, “Don’t.” Last time our focus was the serpent’s deception but today we’re going to move on to Eve’s response.

I don’t know about you but I’ve often had to learn things the hard way. I’m a rebel at heart. I regret to say I learned very little about life as a teenager by just listening and obeying. I had to find out for myself, like I said, the hard way. (My parents are vigorously nodding their heads right now) Even now when I see a sign that says “wet paint” I still feel that twinge of desire to stick my finger on the wall. There’s something in us that doesn’t trust those signs. Something that doesn’t trust the wisdom of our elders. Something that doesn’t trust God. And I think I know what that “something” is.

In many cases, learning something the hard way is harder than we ever imagined. Not trusting God can have dire consequences. It sure did for Adam and Eve. Let’s get started by looking at the way this story is told in a popular children’s Bible.

The fruit on the tree looked good to eat. Eve took some and ate it. Then she gave some to Adam and he ate it, too. Then Adam and Eve saw that they were naked. They made coverings for themselves. Soon they heard God walking through the garden. Quickly, they hid. “Where are you?” God called. “Did you eat from the tree?” “The woman you put here gave me the fruit,” said Adam. “The snake tricked me, and I ate it,” said Eve.

Sounds like a kid version doesn’t it? They heard God coming so they hid. Like that’s even possible. The parent, God, asks, “Where are you?” Then a specific question, “Did you eat from the tree?” Adam blames Eve and then Eve blames the snake. In many ways, this story is very familiar to me as a mom of two little girls. Let me give you a scenario. I notice the girls are awfully quiet so I go upstairs to see what’s going on. I see the two of them hiding behind the couch and some interesting crayon drawings on the wall. I might ask, “What happened?” and then follow with, “Did you color on the wall?” One will say, “She did it!” To which the other will counter, “She told me to!” Then the first will reply, “No I didn’t!” And so on, and so on, and so on. Can you relate?

The kid version is clear but let’s look at your Bible now and read the story as it is recorded there.

Genesis 3:6-13 (New International Version)
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" 10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." 11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" 12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

I can relate to Eve. And not just because the temptation involved food. I can relate to Eve because I am familiar with the process here. First, she looks at the fruit and sees that it is “good for food”. And it’s also desirable for gaining wisdom. This is the point where I would start to talk myself into it. The really dangerous part. Adam and Eve had surely seen the tree before. They had looked at the fruit and seen that it was good for food…but they weren’t tempted before now. I think this is an important point. God doesn’t tempt us. It’s not until the serpent comes into the picture and twists the truth that Eve begins to look at the fruit in a different way. The serpent is the one who tempts her, but ultimately, Adam and Eve are the ones held responsible.

Can you think of a time you were suddenly tempted by something that had never been tempting before? What changed?

The Same Old Lies

I find it interesting that Satan targets Eve in the Garden of Eden with his lies and deception. There are lots of theories about why he focuses on her, but whatever the reason, he causes Eve to doubt God’s words. I think he knows that if he can cause her to doubt God, then he can cause her to fear.

I believe one of Satan’s most effective tools against women is fear. Most of the women I know struggle with fear and that fear leads to worry. We worry about what others think. We worry about the finances and the future. We worry about our children, having them, not having them, and everything to do with them. I’m not saying men don’t worry, I’m just saying some women I know tend to think it’s a spiritual gift. We worry as if it wards off anything bad happening in our lives.

So why do we worry? I think it’s because we believe the lie. Satan is still telling the same lies he told in the garden and we are STILL believing them! Let’s face it, “you will not surely die” might as well be, “God is a liar.” And then we have, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” which is basically, “God is keeping something from you. He can’t be trusted. If you trust Him, you’re going to miss out! Or worse, he’s going to let something bad happen.”

Read John 8:44-45 to get some perspective on how “crafty” the serpent is, Jesus is speaking to the Jews who sought to kill him,

“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s
desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for
there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is
a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe
me!”

Satan is the “father of lies”! There is no truth in him. In fact, lying is his native language. Jesus says that because he(Jesus) is telling the truth, we don’t believe him. Not, “I tell the truth and you don’t believe.” He says, “Because I tell the truth you don’t believe.” So…I have to ask myself…why do we trust the lie more than we trust God? Think I’m wrong? When we worry about our kids, we’re believing the serpent. When we worry about our future, we’re believing the serpent. When we are afraid to give everything over to God because we’re afraid of what he’ll do with it, we’re believing the serpent’s lies. So again, I ask, why do we trust him more than we trust God? Is it because sometimes we are more like him? Is it because deep down (and sometimes not so deep down) we want to be God? We want control? We want to decide what’s best? Are you getting as uncomfortable as I am?

In what way are you still believing the same old lies?

John MacArthur said of Satan, “He wanted to be like God, so God made him as unlike God as possible.” If Satan is the father of lies then our Heavenly Father is the Father of Truth. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth,” more than 70 times in the Bible. Let’s end this section by looking at what God says about the truth and who He is.

Psalm 31:5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

Psalm 40:11 Do not withhold your mercy from me O LORD; may your love and your truth always protect me.

Psalm 86:11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, full of grace and truth.

John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Next post, we’ll move on but in the meantime, let’s remind ourselves of the truth…and then believe it.