Know the Word

Many of us are very familiar with the first three chapters of Genesis. We know the story well. We know that Adam and Eve ate the fruit that initiated the human sin nature. However, I do not think that we often ponder why the serpent’s words were tempting enough to cause Adam and Eve to fall. We should be careful not to overlook lessons on how the evil one deceives. These words of deception are found in Genesis 3:1-7.

The serpent indirectly asks Eve what the Word of God was. “Did God actually say, ‘you shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” It becomes clear through this passage that the serpent is very familiar with the Word of God, yet right away he is twisting it. Now, Eve knew enough of God’s command to see the fallacy in this question. She points out that they can eat any fruit in the garden except from that tree. She gets the basic idea of the command, but she does not fully understand it. She even adds a stipulation saying that she cannot even touch it. I submit that this is where the serpent gains credibility to Adam and Eve. When the serpent questioned God’s command it was clear from his phrasing that he knew God’s Word better than the humans. He questions God’s use of the word “surely” in “you shall surely die.” This was a word that Eve failed to mention in her telling of the command. He also shows a better understanding of the command by identifying the end result. It is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, something that Eve did not mention, but Satan did. It is possible that Adam and Eve began to doubt their understanding of God’s command when it became clear that the serpent understood it better.

Genesis 3 teaches us that the evil one knew the Word of God better than Adam and Eve, which was their downfall. He tried to do the same thing to Jesus in the desert and he’ll do the same thing to us. In Matt 4:6 Satan quotes scripture to Jesus in an attempt to persuade Him to go against God’s will. Jesus’ defense was being rooted in the Word and memorizing scripture. He fires back with a verse out of Deuteronomy. Friends, we must know the scriptures so well that the enemy cannot use it against us. He will try and take it out of context, misquote it, or question its accuracy. These tactics will not work if we know the Word.