Satan's Six-Fold Attack

Could two simple sentences spoken towards us, in apparent concern for our good, bring about our emotional death, our spiritual death? Could they steal our happiness, peace and security?  Could mere words cause a complete shift in our belief system?  Surely not, right?...

These are important questions that we should consider.  The word of God is life, it's as relevant for us today as its been for any reader in His-tory.  I'm amazed with the creation account and the story of Adam & Eve found in the book of Genesis.  So much truth about humanity and God's great love for us can be found in just the first three chapters.  

As we explore the simple words spoken by the serpent to Eve, take note of the powerful deception wrapped up in simple questions and statements.  They were designed to move man from a place of complete unity and fellowship with God, unto a place of self-interest, self-achievement and complete separation from our creator.  Make no mistake, what happened then is not just a story of the past but a recurring scheme used daily by the enemy to either keep us in a place of darkness (2 Cor 4:4) or used to suppresses the truth of God's word in the life of the believer leaving us ineffective and sitting on the sidelines.  

Before we examine the interaction with the serpent, we must first ground ourselves on the truth of God's word:

Genesis 2:15-17
Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Notice that God gave Adam complete freedom to eat from any tree in the garden except the one.  Also note, in His loving kindness, that He forewarned Adam, what the consequence would be if he ate from the forbidden tree.  As a side note, I believe that the term "eat" here is speaking of "taking in" or "to believe in" or "to pursue" and not literally the act of eating.  I believe that scripture must be read with a spiritual lens.  In support of this and in the book of John, Jesus makes a very similar statement about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Jesus no doubt is talking about spiritually feeding on the word, or believing upon Himself, not cannibalism.   

John 6:53-56
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

In the simplest form, I believe God was communicating to man that the result of pursing his own knowledge of what good is, what bad is, would separate him from the very source of his life (God Himself) and would bring about his death (spiritually, emotionally and ultimately physically).  

With this as our foundation, let's move into chapter 3 and examine the six-fold attack by the serpent on God's good creation - man.

Genesis 3:1

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

1 - Did God really say:

Planting the seed of doubt right from the beginning.  Teeing up the wedge that he would drive between man and God.  

2 - You must not eat from any tree:

Twisting and flipping the truth of the first half of God's command that established the freedom of man to freely eat from ANY tree in the garden.  An attempt to replace the declared freedom with questionable restrictions.  By implying that God was restricting all the trees, the serpent expanded the original command well beyond its intent thereby making the restriction of eating from the tree of the KoG&E seem more palatable.  

Genesis 3:4-5
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

3 - You will not certainly die:

An outright lie.  God clearly indicated, in His loving protection, the result of eating from the tree of the KoG&E, that you will certainly die.  Man did experience a physical death and in ways a non-physical death in both the separation from God (being removed from the garden) and the shame brought about from his disobedience.  

4 - For God knows:

A subtle claim by the serpent to have an understanding of the mind of God.  An unspoken proclamation of being elevated in knowledge over God.  Are we not guilty of the same at times?  Pretending to know what God is up to?  

5 - Eyes will be opened:

By implied opposite, the serpent is saying "you are blind, God is hiding things from you" 

6 - You will be like God:

Stealing the truth of the situation - man was already made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26).  He couldn't become what he already was.  

Satan, through his cunning deception, stole in our mind, our personal relationship and the truth of who we are in God.  In his lies, he promised us, through our own pursuit, the very things we already had.  He tricked us into unbelief of the truth (God himself) and sent us down the path of pride and self-achievement.  All this lead to our emotional, spiritual and ultimately our physical death.  

Spend some time in God's word learning and believing the truth of who He is, the truth of who you are!  

Two sentences I leave you.  The first, truth about the thief, the second, Jesus' declared truth about abundant life found in Him!  

John 10:10
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.