Milton claims. Be very careful which version you accept, man's or God's. Once again, Proverbs 16: 25 just as Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.". The Satanic deception through slight alterations can lead to major misunder- standings of God's word. In this case, the shifting of personal respon- sibility for ones actions to someone else. Adam was just as guilty as Eve, just as I am and you are. Another deceptive issue that becomes apparent in this light is that Satan addressed the woman not the man, quietly placing her in a place of authority over the man, and not submitting to his authority as given by God. Notice I did not say submitting as a door mat. She was speaking for the family when she said we may eat, etc.. Very early then Satan started in motion one of the biggest detriments to family life that we see today. That is no one seems to want to accept the position in the family that God wants them to have. So, Eve responded to Satan, that of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden, she shouldn't touch it or eat it lest she die. Is this what God had said to Adam? Let's look again at Genesis 2:16-17, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.". Genesis 2:9 tells us that God placed one tree in the midst of the garden, the tree of life; there is no specific mention as to where God placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve by not stating exactly what God's will was, was, in truth, setting up a rationalization to circumvent God's will. If you will note her statement carefully you will see that she had interpreted God's will to mean that the tree of life was off limits, the only mention as to a tree in midst of the garden in Genesis 2:9 was to the tree of life. That's the wrong tree, Eve! Her thought process could have gone something like this: "God said of the tree in the midst - but - but, this tree is good for food, it's pleasant to the eyes. The serpent, who seems so nice, and 11 _______________________________________________________________________________ wise, says that it will make me wise. Surely someone so nice and so wise wouldn't lie to me. Surely, God didn't mean this one. The serpent said I won't die. If God really cared for me he would have told me exactly which tree. Just one taste - I can always say I'm sorry later ...". In I Thessalonians 5:18-23 we see what went wrong. "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.". In view of this scripture let's review man's actions in the garden. First, one of the descriptions of the Holy Spirit that we saw in Chapter 1 was that of a purging fire. When you quench a flame you snuff it out. Or put another way, you eliminate it's ability to shed light. The spirit of man, which was the image of the Holy Spirit, was trying to get the soul of man to obey the will of God by keeping his commandments. Adam and Eve found ways to rationalize their way around the urgings of the spirit. In short, they quenched the Spirit. Prophesying is the act of describing future events. They both were aware of God's prophecy of the consequences of their actions, before they turned their backs on God's prophecy. They despised prophesyings. Thirdly, they at no time questioned the serpent's allegations, and obviously embraced corrupt advice, rather than good and righteous advice. Fourthly, a good rule is: 'If In Doubt Don't Do It'. They failed to abstain from all appearance of evil. Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty on all four counts! Satan had fed them the same lie that got him kicked out of heaven and they swallowed it! But, you know something, so would you and I, as Genesis 8:21 indicated to us in Chapter 1, "... for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth;". God knew in the beginning that man would fall; but God being just, allowed man the 12 _________________________________________________________________________________ |
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