WEDNESDAY, July 8, 2009                                                       READ: Genesis 3: 1 – 5                                                                                                        

NOW THE SERPENT

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

God had told Adam that he had access to every tree of the garden except one. He had the privilege of eating freely from those trees. He was, however, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was told that, in the day that he would have eaten thereof, he would surely die. God was testing Adam’s willingness to trust Him and obey Him implicitly. There was no indication that he misunderstood or failed to understand the importance of obeying the command, which God had given to him. When, in the course of time, a wife was provided for him, the man fulfilled his responsibility to God and to her. He communicated to his what God had communicated to him. There was no sense of tension or antagonism with God’s instruction to them. They were naked and open to each other. We are told that they were not experiencing a sense of shame, because there was no evil.

We are not told what period of time passed between Genesis 2: 25 and 3: 1. We do not know. Here in our text, Genesis 3: 1 – 5, we should be able to sense that there had been an entity which had managed to enter the picture through deceit, for the purpose of inciting subversion of God’s plan. In v. 1, we are told that “… the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which God had made.” The serpent was one of the beasts which the LORD formed (cf. 2: 19, 20). Here it is singled out and described as being “… more cunning than the other beasts…” (cf. 2 Corinthians 11: 3). The serpent was really a snake, which in the second part of the verse was referred to as “he” and was having communication with “the woman….” Something sinister had taken place. The snake gave control of its body to the devil, and so, became an adversary of Almighty God. The devil had deceived it through its love of charm and beauty (cf. Proverbs 31: 30). The devil is a subversive. The New Testament helps us to identify the “serpent” as Satan (cf. 2 Corinthians 11: 3; Revelation 12: 9; 20: 2). Based upon Isaiah 14: 12 - 15; Ezekiel 28: 11-15, Luke 10: 18, Revelation 12: 3, 4, we can know that he had rebelled against God in Heaven and, along with the angels who joined his rebellion, was cast out of Heaven onto the earth, some time after Genesis 1: 31. While in Heaven, he was Lucifer. He was a creature and was a servant of God. While entrusted with privilege and responsibility, he came to the conclusion, in his own heart, that he was more fit to be God than God. He set his sights on becoming God. Satan has never given up the idea of taking over as God and being God. He came to earth with the objective of subverting God’s purpose for creating mankind (cf. Ephesians 2: 7). We see how the devil, Satan, using the body of the snake, engaged the woman in a conversation. He purposefully got her to question whether or not she had been told the truth, what God had actually said, by her husband. He wanted to make her feel insecure, unable to trust her husband to be truthful and trustworthy. He asked her, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” The devil, Satan, went after the woman, the weaker one, while she was alone, away from her husband. He insinuated doubt in her mind- (cf. 2 Timothy 3: 6). We often foolishly think that we are capable of being an equal match for the devil. We are not! We need to be aware of his devices and utilize the resources, which God has provided for us to resist him (cf. 2 Corinthians 2: 11; Ephesians 6: 10 – 18; James 4: 7; 1 Peter 5: 8, 9). The devil sought to establish the foundation stone of insecurity in her mind, first, about her husband and his ability to receive God’s revelation, and second, his ability and integrity in conveying it to her. Once he got her to even entertain that notion, he began to have room, enough room, in which to operate (cf. Ephesians 4: 26). Observe how she responded! Knowing what the Bible teaches is our proper way to deal with the devil, how would you evaluate her response to this attack from the devil?

PRAY:LORD, God Almighty, You alone are God, and You have chosen to reveal Yourself to us. Please help me to be responsive to the moving of Your Spirit in my life. Help me to have the proper response to You and to resist the devil at every point. I am asking is in Jesus’ strong name. Amen.