Jump Start # 570

Genesis 3:1  “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

We continue our look at Adam, Eve and the garden  of Eden this week. Our verse today leads us to the choice Adam and Eve had to make about trusting and obeying God. We call this the fall of man, because they made the wrong choice and sinned. They fell. Sin is described as “falling short of the grace of God” in Romans. There are several lessons worth looking at here.

First, we are not given all the details that our curiosity would like to know. For instance, how long after creation did this happen? Next day? Next week? Next month? We don’t know. Guessing is just that, and we don’t want to build a theology, faith, or manufacture facts that are based upon guesses. Also, was the serpent the only animal that could talk? Eve doesn’t seem shocked that she is having a conversation with an animal. If our pets started talking to us, most of us would leave the house. We don’t know what the serpent looked like. Most pictures show a snake wrapped around the tree. The serpent’s punishment was to crawl. Could it be that there were no snakes in the garden? That definitely would be paradise for me! I’ve heard people talking about “good snakes.” To me, the word “good” and “snake” do not belong in the same sentence. It’s amazing that of all the animals in the world, the snake is one that most people do not like. Was this a lizard like creature that lost it’s legs and became snake like? Guessing again. What about the forbidden fruit? An apple? One of my kids had a college professor who was adamant that the forbidden fruit was a Granny Smith apple. That made us all laugh when we heard that. How could it be called “Granny Smith” if this all took place hundreds of years before “Granny Smith” was born? Most likely, it is not a fruit we have today. The forbidden fruit came from one tree that was in the garden. Access was denied to the garden after the first couple sinned.  Don’t fear eating an apple today, it’s not the forbidden fruit

Now, some lessons from this.

• Sin doesn’t have to appear ugly to be ugly. Verse six says that Eve looked at the forbidden fruit and it was a delight to her eyes. I expect if the fruit was an overripe banana, that was brown and mush, she would have turned away. It wasn’t like that. It looked amazing. Sometimes, preachers, myself included, talk so much about the consequences of sin that we leave the impression that sin is not desirable to the eyes. That’s false. It is. Sin looks good. That’s the attraction. That’s the tug on our hearts to do what we know is wrong. Young people need to grasp this concept. Fornication, alcohol, drugs, stealing all have an appeal to them. There’s something about them that attracts our eyes and pulls on our hearts. John wrote in this first epistle that there is a “lust of the eyes, a lust of the flesh, and a boastful pride of life”  – that’s how sin operates.

• Satan loves to remind us about what we are missing in life. He did that with Eve. The conversation between Satan and Eve revolved around which tree you could not have. Instead of counting your blessings and realizing that she could eat the fruit from all the trees except one, it was that one tree that Satan focused upon. Satan does that. He wants you to think that God is restrictive. God doesn’t like you. Look what He’s done, He won’t let you have that one tree. That works on the mind. That crosses our thinking. We find ourselves agreeing with Satan, which is always scary. We focus upon what we don’t have instead of what we do have. We forget that God knows what is best. We forget to trust God. We start to think that we know better than God. Always dangerous.

• You will notice also, that Satan didn’t take a piece of the forbidden fruit and sneak it in Eve’s salad. He didn’t force her or even make her take the fruit. He got her mind twisted and she chose. Satan plays a contributing factor in all of this, but the bottom line, Eve chose to eat that fruit. Eve was responsible. The same goes us for. Satan dangles that beautiful carrot before our eyes, he plays with our minds, confuses us and we grab that carrot without thinking much about other things. All we can see is that forbidden fruit. It’s our choice. Don’t blame parents. Don’t point fingers to the church. Don’t say, “I was tired,” or “I was lonely,” – doesn’t matter. We choose.

• Verse six also says “she took from it’s fruit and ate.” Nothing is said about lightning flashing after that or a loud clap of thunder. She took, she ate. She enjoyed. She then gave some to Adam and he ate. It reads almost as Satan had said to her. “See, you didn’t die. See, it wasn’t so bad. See, I know what I’m talking about. See, God didn’t do anything. See, you can trust me.” Oh, how dangerous that is. Every time I read this chapter, I want to scream, “Run, Eve.” But she doesn’t. She has a conversation with Satan. He lies. He always does. Don’t talk with him. He’s the enemy. He can’t be trusted. He can’t be turned. He can’t be saved. Don’t talk…run.
• Satan didn’t look like Satan—he appeared as a serpent. Much later in your Bible, Peter would say something to Jesus that just wasn’t right. In fact, Peter rebuked Jesus for talking about his coming death. The Lord responded, “Get behind me, Satan.” Was Satan actually in Peter? Probably not like the serpent, yet he was using Peter. Satan will do that. He will use friends, co-workers, neighbors, brethren, TV, movies, music or anything else that is available to twist, turn and crisscross our thinking so we take what is forbidden.

This shows just how wicked and evil Satan is. Learn to recognize his voice. It speaks to us through commercials, movies, music and other avenues. It’s always telling us that we need to have what is forbidden. The forbidden is where it’s at. The forbidden is good. The forbidden is incredible. He tells you that you’ll love it, and that’s probably the only true thing he says. You will. He fails to tell you that it comes with a price, your soul. He fails to tell you about the consequences or how addicting and controlling sin can become. He fails to tell you that it will change you. He fails to tell you that it will hurt every good relationship you have. Sin does that. If it’s on God’s forbidden list, it’s there for a reason. He knows what’s best. He determined, not Satan, what’s forbidden and what’s acceptable. God knows. God is good. He is good to you.

We will continue with more thoughts tomorrow.

Roger