Studies

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Studies in Genesis
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Temptation Gen 3v1-7
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Introduction
Attitudes towards temptation vary considerably.
Oscar Wilde writes, "The only way to get rid of
temptation is to yield to it". What devastating
results that approach has produced! The
temptation in Gen. 3 is of fundamental importance
for a variety of reasons not least because it
helps us understand the nature of temptation. It
makes clear the process by which people commonly
yield to temptation. But significantly, it
pinpoints the origins of evil, both in our world
and in human nature. A question that puzzles
many people is this "If God created a good and
perfect world, why are we surrounded by so much
evil and imperfection?" It is a fair question
and Gen. 3 provides an adequate answer.
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The Tempter Unmasked
God created man not as a robot but with an
ability to choose to obey or disobey him. Man was
a probationer with a test that centred upon a
tree in the midst of the garden of Eden.
Obedience would enable man to affirm his trust
in, and love for God. Disobedience would
demonstrate mans distrust of God and
indifference towards him. Down the path of
obedience God promised blessing. Down the path of
disobedience God promised punishment. Adam and
Eve had every incentive to obey God, who had
lavished the blessing of paradise upon them.
But things went disastrously wrong!
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The Tempter Unmasked
How do we explain the disaster? Genesis is in no
doubt. The first words in this chapter introduce
us to a serpent. You may reply, "A talking
serpent! Pull the other leg. Have we not learned
that Genesis distinguishes man from the rest of
the created order in a number of ways including
man's rationality, his ability to communicate and
reason? How then do we explain a talking
serpent? By asking, if we are not dealing with
something more than a mere serpent, something
sinister behind the serpent, manipulating it for
its own ends?
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The Tempter Unmasked
Jesus describes the character of Satan as the
serpent and describes the evil, which he spawned
in the world from the very beginning in
Jn.8.44.But how does Satan fit into the picture,
where does he come from? Satan's background is
clearly given in Rev12.7ff... Notice he's
presented as an enemy of God, a fallen angel who
leads a rebellion against God and whose present
domain is this world. But we can go further
back than that and ask, What caused this
powerful created spiritual being to turn into a
rebel? We read of his pride and aspirations in
Is.14.12-17.
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The Tempter Unmasked
What's the relevance of this background material?
It helps us understand, who tempted Eve and why.
We'll never understand the terrifying expressions
of evil in the world if we fail to reckon with
Satan's malevolence. He hates God but cannot harm
him and so he turns his attention to that which
is both vulnerable and dear to the heart of God -
man! You will know of people who have wanted to
hurt someone they were once close to. What do
they do? It is not uncommon for them to tear up
their photograph! Man was made in Gods Image.
He is much more than a photograph but a being
who is precious to God. Satan has set about
defacing that image, dehumanising man.
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The Tempter Unmasked
The Bible provides a balanced approach to the
Tempter. It is neither dismissive of him nor
obsessed by him. Scripture steers us between
these unhealthy extremes. It encourages the same
vigilance that we find in Jesus, who for 40 days
in the wilderness resisted Satan's onslaughts.
Jesus further recognised Satan activity, when
Satan used Peter as his puppet, a well meaning
friend who attempted to dissuade him from his
path of obedience. Jesus significant reply to
Peter is found in Matt 16.23. "Get behind me
Satan. Jesus recognised that at that moment in
time Peter was nothing less than a dupe of the
Devil.
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The Tempter Unmasked
In order to take temptation seriously we must
take the Tempter seriously and recognise the
conflict of which we are a part. Satans approach
is often subtle and serpent-like. He aims to
entice us without our recognising what is going
on. Its for this reason that we read in 2 Cor.
11.14 that Satan masquerades as an angel of
light. If we were to see him in his true
colours we would not be so easily influenced by
his tempting offers.
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The Nature of Temptation
This passage not only exposes the personal
character of the tempter it reveals his strategy.
Satan is not particularly original or creative
and often uses the same approach to the human
heart. First, he springs the temptation, when
Eve is alone! Many temptations grow in the
seedbed of solitude. People often succumb to
temptations in solitude which they would resist
in the company of other Christians. Christians
can have a restraining Influence on one another.
We are able to strengthen one another in our
resolve to resist Satan. That resolve is
weakened when we are alone. That is often when
temptation is most fierce cf Matt 4.1ff.
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The Nature of Temptation
Secondly, Satans method here is to sow doubts in
Eves mind about the commands of God. Satans
goal is to produce discontent with the One who
issued the commands and as a result alienate
Eves affection for God cf. v1, "Did God really
say...from ANY tree..." With what sympathy and
understanding he must have spoken those words.
Implying how hard of God to impose such
strictures. Satan knew very well that the command
of God referred to only one tree but his question
is framed to make Eve think that God was terribly
unreasonable in asking what he did.
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The Nature of Temptation
Satans success is seen in Eve's reply, she does
not clearly repeat the command of God but
elaborates it, making it sound more rigorous and
unreasonable "and you must not TOUCH it or you
will die v3. Satan often attempts to make the
laws of God seem unreasonable. We're less likely
to break them if we see they are designed for our
good, as boundary fences erected for our
protection. Satan suggests they impose
unreasonable restrictions on your life, they
limit your freedom, they are barricades you must
break out of if you're to enjoy life.
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The Nature of Temptation
Thirdly, Satan is halfway to victory once he
engages Eve in conversation. He's a bit like a
double glazing salesman once you let him into
your home you are half way to signing a
contract. John Owen writes "Whilst temptation
knocks at the door we are at liberty, but when
any temptation comes in and speaks with the
heart, reasons with the mind and entices the
emotions whether imperceptibly or knowingly we
are entering into temptation. If we are to
learn to deal with temptation then we must learn
to close the door in its face. cf Joseph who
fled temptation Gen.39.12.
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The Nature of Temptation
Fourthly, Satan challenged the truthfulness and
trustworthiness of God, "you will not surely die
v4. He encourages Eve, first to doubt the Gods
word and then to deny it. He whispers, "don't
take the warnings and threats of God too
seriously". Many have listened to this line and
have approached their Bibles with scissors in
hand removing all that speaks of the reality of
God's judgement and speaks of the accountability
of men before a holy and righteous God. In its
place are pasted in the false hopes with which
they've been fed "God won't exclude anyone from
heaven." And this despite the fact that Jesus
had more to say about the certainty of judgement
and the reality of hell than anyone else.
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The Nature of Temptation
Fifthly, Satan knows how best to bait his hook.
He appealed to Eve's intellect. He tells a half
truth. He tells her eating this fruit will have
the effect of opening her eyes, "you will have a
knowledge of good and evil which you did not have
before" v5. Now in a sense that was true BUT its
a bit like saying to a child, "If you put your
hand in the fire you will have a knowledge of
the fire you didn't possess before. Yes but at
what a cost! Eve ended up with the kind of
knowledge that only a guilty person could have.
She would know evil as something which for the
first time had tainted and tarnished her life.
In the same way she would know good as that
which was now something which would always lie
tantalisingly beyond her reach.
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The Nature of Temptation
Satan is a master fisherman who varies his bait
depending upon his subject. Sometimes his appeals
are refined and intellectual on other occasions
it is to the baser passions and appetites he
addresses his temptations. C. S. Lewis captures
Satans approach in his "Screwtape Letters"
where he describes the way in which one of
Satans minions set about temptation. "I once
had a patient, a sound atheist, who used to read
in the British Museum. One day as he sat reading
I saw a train of thought in his mind beginning to
go in the wrong way. God of course was at his
elbow. Before I knew where I was I saw my 20
years work begin to totter...I struck instantly
at the part of the man which I had best under
my control and suggested it was just about time
for lunch."
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The Nature of Temptation
Finally Satan promises freedom by appealing to
ambition, "You will be like God v5. His own
ambition had been his downfall! He was now saying
to Eve, Here is a chance to break free from
God's apron strings. Now is the time to make your
bid for independence, to be your own person. God
is a spoilsport a bully who uses his commands to
prevent you from realising your full potential.
Take the fruit and be free of him! He is
rightly called the father of lies. Rebellion
would not to bring freedom but bondage. This
supposed independence is a myth, an illusion,
for to take the fruit would make her a slave to
sin. Satan, like a contemporary drug pusher was
saying your first fix will be a liberating
experience. We know that addiction and the
craving for more is not the road to liberty the
addict was promised.
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Conclusion
Do you see the way in which Satan succeeded in
alienating Eves heart from God? He has made God
appear as a spoilsport, a cruel and suppressive
tyrant! Satan presented rebellion against him as
the route to true fulfilment and lifelong
satisfaction! This is a pattern that repeats
itself in the lives of many men and women.
Temptation promises to enrich but in fact
impoverishes because its object is not our good
but the disintegration of our lives. With good
reason Jesus counselled his disciples to, "Watch
and pray".
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