“And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’” Genesis 3:4.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23.
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:6.
There are three avenues of temptation and Satan uses all three on all of us without exception. That does not mean that we are always susceptible to all three, but it does mean that we will be weak in at least one of these areas.
“For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world.” 1 John 2:16.
As seen in Genesis 3:6 quoted earlier, Eve fell into sin in all three areas. We will see later that Satan used them in the exact same order in the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16.
In the first of these temptations Eve, “saw that the tree was good for food…” the woman, having been deceived by the seed of doubt planted by Satan concerning God’s word now starts to use her own reasoning instead of asking God for an explanation.
The first avenue through which she is tempted is she “saw that the tree was good for food” this is described as the “…lust of the flesh” in 1 John 2:16. It is this lust of the flesh that Satan tried to appeal to when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness.
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are [since You are] the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”’” Matthew 4:1-4.
The sin here would have been that He would be serving Himself out of the will of the Father.
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45.
Here is an interesting thought; temptation vexed Jesus terribly because it was not in His nature, being One who is pure and holy in all of His ways. We on the other hand enjoy temptation because it appeals to our sinful nature.
Think of it for a moment, the burning lust we at times feel when we see an alluring woman, or man, the desire to try something forbidden, like adultery or gossiping about someone you dislike is this not appealing sometimes?
Temptation is not quite the same if we are tempted to steal the weeds in our neighbor’s yard, or a worn out tire behind a tire store. Can anyone remember getting giddy over such thoughts?
It is a principle of combat that you go for your enemies weaknesses. A boxing trainer will never tell his man that his opponent has a cast iron stomach and a glass jaw, so pound on his stomach until he goes down. That trainer would soon be unemployed.
Go for the weakest spot, just as Satan will go for your weakest spot. Be aware of your weaknesses and stay away from places that will tempt you.
The alcoholic stays out of bars. Those with a weakness for illicit sex stay out places where like minded people go. The drug addict stays away from other drug addicts, lest he be snared again. And gamblers avoid places where they can gamble.
This is not a cure-all but if we avoid standing in front of the tree as Eve did, it would help.
Eve also saw that the tree “…was pleasant to the eyes” there is almost an irony here because in Genesis 2:9 Scripture tells us:
“And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Genesis 2:9.
So then every tree in the garden was pleasant to the eyes and good for food. Why was this one so desirable that it made the risk worthwhile? Could it be that folks are tempted when something is forbidden?
This second doorway to sin is called “the lust of the eyes” in 1 John 2:16, the woman saw that “…it was pleasant to the eyes”. So often things start with what we see with our eyes; the neighbor’s wife, money left on a table, or an opportunity to buy a beautiful object that we know was stolen.
Or hearing, loose talk, or lurid stories about someone else may tempt a person to seek them out just because they were tempted by what they heard. The three monkeys, see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil are not too far off the mark.
Satan tried using this second doorway with Jesus in the wilderness:
“Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are [since You are] the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: “He shall give His angels charge concerning you,” and, “In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”’ Jesus said to him, ‘It is written again, “You shall not tempt [test] the Lord your God.”’” Matthew 4:5-7.
Notice this, when the devil said to Jesus, “If You are the Son of God” it was not a question and does not mean that he doubted that Jesus is the Son of God. He knew that He was; the word if has the meaning of, “If you are going to the store get some lettuce”, or “Since you are going to the store get some lettuce.” It is not a question, it is a statement.
Satan also misquotes the passages out of Psalm 91:11-12 in the above quote from Matthew 4:5-7. This is why everyone must listen carefully and then check out the statements of people who bring you a message either personally or in your church. A lot of error has crept in due to the misuse of Scripture.
The last sentence in Jesus’ response to Satan is important because it can be misunderstood. You shall not tempt, means you shall not put God to the test, do not put Him in a position where He has to act.
The statement of the three young men that King Nebuchadnezzar was about to throw into a fiery furnace is a classic example of how you should respond without putting God to the test.
“Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, ‘Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up?” Daniel 3:14.
“But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.’” Daniel 3:15b-18.
The third door to sin was the promise of being like God, Eve saw that the tree was “…desirable to make one wise.”
The Apostle John called this third doorway, “…the boastful pride of life” 1 John 2:16, New American Standard Version.
Satan offered Eve the chance to be like her Creator God. In a world that had an abundance of everything they needed; knowledge like God’s was an achievement which would enrich them even more than she could have dreamed of. But to quote from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible:
“Our first parents, who knew so much, did not know this – that they knew enough.”
Death of Innocence, Genesis 3:6a taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 7-31-14, updated on 10-6-21.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.