Beware of Deception
What took place in the Garden of Eden is exactly what is taking place every day all around the world. We can see in Genesis 3 a classic example of the deceitful traps we all face even today. And the results are still the same. I was in a Facebook discussion recently with a fellow who believed that the "fruit" of the forbidden tree was and is sex. It became necessary to end the conversation, but the idea of what that fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is brings many questions to mind. Children are shown pictures of apples because of the use of the word "fruit" - "Of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die." Gen. 3:3
In the Anchor Bible, the verses in Genesis concerning the tree of what we call the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" are translated as "the tree of the knowledge of good and bad". It is worth noting the differences in the Anchor Bible translation of several verses in Genesis concerning the incident in Eden.
Gen. 3:1 "Now the serpent was the sliest of all the wild creatures that God Yahweh had made. Said he to the woman, 'Even though God told you not to eat of any tree in the garden . . .'
The author of the Anchor Bible comments that the Hebrew wording translated literally as "Even though" here shows that the serpent was not asking a question but rather was deliberately distorting a fact. The Hebrew Chumash renders this verse as, "He said to the woman, 'Did, perhaps, God say, You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'" In other words, the serpent was saying, "Is it possible that God forbade you to eat of any of the trees? Why would He have created them if they are not to be enjoyed?" How many people fall for this reasoning today? Pleasures are meant to be enjoyed...it is foolish to restrain yourself from them. If it feels good, it must be right.
Gen. 3:2,3 "The woman interrupted the serpent, 'But we may eat of the trees of the garden! It is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God did say, Do not eat of it, or so much as touch it, lest you die!"
How sly the serpent is! Though his purpose is to bring her attention to the tree that they were told not to eat from, he exaggerates God's command concerning eating from a particular tree to include all of the trees. Eve counters with an exaggeration of God's command as well. We can see how exaggeration of facts plays into deception! Now without even mentioning the one forbidden tree, the serpent has gotten Eve to focus on it in her defense of God's commands.
By her adding to the command, she opens up a door for deception. The Hebrew Chumash relates that a Jewish midrash concerning this says that when Eve added, "neither shall you touch it lest you die", the serpent pushed her up against the tree and said, "Just as you did not died from touching it, so you will not die from eating it!" When we go beyond what God has told us, it opens the door for unbelief to enter in, when what we have added is proven to be wrong. The devil used this same ploy in tempting Jesus in the wilderness. He exaggerates the Scripture. He adds to it again. First, he omits a portion of the verse in Ps. 91 to say that "He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you." (rather than "to keep you in all your Ways", which refers to the Ways of God). Then in Luke 4:11 he misquotes the passage from Ps.91 by adding "at any time". So the meaning becomes exaggerated to say that the angels will keep us in any circumstance that we find ourselves in, even if we have not been diligently keeping ourselves in God's Ways. How many people again, fall into this trap. They have not diligently sought God's direction according to His Word, and when things don't work out, they blame God.
Gen. 3:4,5 "But the serpent said to the woman, 'You are not going to die. No, God well knows that that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be the same as God in telling good from bad."
Both the Anchor Bible and the Hebrew Chumash translate the tree to give knowledge of "good and bad". The author of the Anchor Bible notes that this is different than "good and evil," because the use of the word evil carries a moral implication, while bad has wider implications, such as bad experiences. The word "telling" here is actually "knowing" (the Hebrew stem word 'yd') and means not only to know something, but it describes the "process and result of coming to know". So this can be translated, "you will be the same as God in distinguishing good from bad."
The Hebrew Chumash makes an interesting point concerning these verses. In the Chumash they point out that those who try to rationalize the Word of God away often say that those who preach it are out to consolidate power for themselves - to control others. This is a widely used accusation today in our society. People who are against gay marriage and abortion for instance, are accused of trying to impose oppressive measures upon an unwilling society and they are accused of attempting to control people's lives and rob them of their freedom. People today highly value their own ability to distinguish for themselves between good and bad. Just as the serpent implied here that God was withholding this special wisdom from them in the Garden, people in our society today have fallen for that same lie. Even some of the Churches have unwittingly fallen into this by bringing in Greek and Eastern philosophy into their teaching. Rather than preaching the Cross of Christ as the ultimate answer for all of our needs, they have begun preaching a counterfeit gospel that includes visualization, ways to raise your for self esteem, meditation and other methods of gaining "success".
Gen. 3:6 "When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eye, and that the tree was attractive as a means to wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave some to her husband and he ate."
Here we see that there are two sources for "wisdom". There is the wisdom that comes from God and there is the wisdom of the world. For the child of God, Scripture tells us that Jesus is made unto us wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30). Paul writes a lot about the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of God in his letter to the Corinthians. In chapter one he plainly declares that the preaching of the Cross of Christ is the "power of God and the wisdom of God". In chapter 2 he tells us that our faith "should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God", and that he spoke of the "wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages unto our glory; which none of the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." The child of God has an infinitely greater source of wisdom (which is found when we place our faith in what was accomplished at Calvary) than what the world calls wisdom, but God calls foolishness.
In my discussion with that person on Facebook that I referred to in the beginning of this post, that person, along with much of even the Church world believes that Eve is to blame for the fall of man. They believe that Eve is the one that persuaded Adam to "eat of the apple" so to speak. This is simply not true. The New Testament tells us that she was deceived, but that Adam was not deceived (1 Tim. 3:14). Also, according to the Hebrew Chumash, in verse 6 of Genesis 3 where it is written, "she gave also to her husband with her. . ." that that word "with" means "at one with her." He was in agreement with her eating and he was not deceived or influenced or, "hopelessly tempted", as the Chumash puts it. Also, according to the Hebrew Chumash, when Adam admitted to God that he ate of the tree, his reply of "I ate" uses the future tense of the verb. Basically he said, "I ate, and I will eat again!" In any case, that is a little off the topic of this post, but is an important fact that needs to be stated because of the oppression women have faced because of the misinterpretation of this story.
The story of deception in the Garden shows us the current condition of mankind. They believe that they are well able to choose for themselves what is good and what is bad. And while refusing to submit to God's ways and His means of obtaining righteousness and holiness, mankind prefers to believe that they are wise in themselves and have no need of humbling themselves and admitting that they are not wise enough in their own abilities to understand the issues of life.
Every child of God can also fall into this thinking if we are not diligent. It goes against human nature to humble ourselves and admit that we do not have the ability to succeed without the Lord's help. So often we try everything we can think of to succeed, and turn to prayer only after exhausting our own resources. Then if/when we do succeed, we tend to feel that we are talented, wise and good in ourselves. Just as the Tree of Life was in the center of the Garden, so Jesus Christ and Him crucified is to be in the center of our lives and in the garden of our hearts. Every day we are make a decision to depend upon ourselves or depend upon what Jesus did for us on the cross. Will we look to His Word to establish our values and "know what is good and what is bad", or will we look to our circumstances or the circumstances of those around us and determine that in our own wisdom we will decide for ourselves. So many people that love someone (perhaps a family member or good friend) who gets involved in a gay lifestyle determine that there is really nothing wrong with the gay lifestyle after all. This can be true of people accepting abortion as a necessary part of life. There is a lot of pressure in today's society to accept sin in its many forms, rather than be looked at as a prude. Then there are people who try and try to overcome sin in their own strength. All of these things are really rebellion against God. The answer for all of our needs is found by placing our faith in what Jesus did for us on the Cross. God doesn't answer our prayers based upon how good we have been. He honors our prayers when our faith is firmly planted in the finished work at Calvary and when we humbly admit that He alone is our everything. Without Him, we can do nothing (even as Jesus said).
God has sent Jesus to redeem us from our sins. In order to do that, He (Jesus) had to suffer and die on the cross, pouring out His precious Blood to cleanse us from our sins. If we could overcome sin in our own strength, Jesus would not have had to do this. Scripture says that Jesus is "made unto us wisdom". Will we look to Him as our source of wisdom, or do we depend upon our own abilities to succeed in this world?
In the Anchor Bible, the verses in Genesis concerning the tree of what we call the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" are translated as "the tree of the knowledge of good and bad". It is worth noting the differences in the Anchor Bible translation of several verses in Genesis concerning the incident in Eden.
Gen. 3:1 "Now the serpent was the sliest of all the wild creatures that God Yahweh had made. Said he to the woman, 'Even though God told you not to eat of any tree in the garden . . .'
The author of the Anchor Bible comments that the Hebrew wording translated literally as "Even though" here shows that the serpent was not asking a question but rather was deliberately distorting a fact. The Hebrew Chumash renders this verse as, "He said to the woman, 'Did, perhaps, God say, You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'" In other words, the serpent was saying, "Is it possible that God forbade you to eat of any of the trees? Why would He have created them if they are not to be enjoyed?" How many people fall for this reasoning today? Pleasures are meant to be enjoyed...it is foolish to restrain yourself from them. If it feels good, it must be right.
Gen. 3:2,3 "The woman interrupted the serpent, 'But we may eat of the trees of the garden! It is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God did say, Do not eat of it, or so much as touch it, lest you die!"
How sly the serpent is! Though his purpose is to bring her attention to the tree that they were told not to eat from, he exaggerates God's command concerning eating from a particular tree to include all of the trees. Eve counters with an exaggeration of God's command as well. We can see how exaggeration of facts plays into deception! Now without even mentioning the one forbidden tree, the serpent has gotten Eve to focus on it in her defense of God's commands.
By her adding to the command, she opens up a door for deception. The Hebrew Chumash relates that a Jewish midrash concerning this says that when Eve added, "neither shall you touch it lest you die", the serpent pushed her up against the tree and said, "Just as you did not died from touching it, so you will not die from eating it!" When we go beyond what God has told us, it opens the door for unbelief to enter in, when what we have added is proven to be wrong. The devil used this same ploy in tempting Jesus in the wilderness. He exaggerates the Scripture. He adds to it again. First, he omits a portion of the verse in Ps. 91 to say that "He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you." (rather than "to keep you in all your Ways", which refers to the Ways of God). Then in Luke 4:11 he misquotes the passage from Ps.91 by adding "at any time". So the meaning becomes exaggerated to say that the angels will keep us in any circumstance that we find ourselves in, even if we have not been diligently keeping ourselves in God's Ways. How many people again, fall into this trap. They have not diligently sought God's direction according to His Word, and when things don't work out, they blame God.
Gen. 3:4,5 "But the serpent said to the woman, 'You are not going to die. No, God well knows that that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be the same as God in telling good from bad."
Both the Anchor Bible and the Hebrew Chumash translate the tree to give knowledge of "good and bad". The author of the Anchor Bible notes that this is different than "good and evil," because the use of the word evil carries a moral implication, while bad has wider implications, such as bad experiences. The word "telling" here is actually "knowing" (the Hebrew stem word 'yd') and means not only to know something, but it describes the "process and result of coming to know". So this can be translated, "you will be the same as God in distinguishing good from bad."
The Hebrew Chumash makes an interesting point concerning these verses. In the Chumash they point out that those who try to rationalize the Word of God away often say that those who preach it are out to consolidate power for themselves - to control others. This is a widely used accusation today in our society. People who are against gay marriage and abortion for instance, are accused of trying to impose oppressive measures upon an unwilling society and they are accused of attempting to control people's lives and rob them of their freedom. People today highly value their own ability to distinguish for themselves between good and bad. Just as the serpent implied here that God was withholding this special wisdom from them in the Garden, people in our society today have fallen for that same lie. Even some of the Churches have unwittingly fallen into this by bringing in Greek and Eastern philosophy into their teaching. Rather than preaching the Cross of Christ as the ultimate answer for all of our needs, they have begun preaching a counterfeit gospel that includes visualization, ways to raise your for self esteem, meditation and other methods of gaining "success".
Gen. 3:6 "When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eye, and that the tree was attractive as a means to wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave some to her husband and he ate."
Here we see that there are two sources for "wisdom". There is the wisdom that comes from God and there is the wisdom of the world. For the child of God, Scripture tells us that Jesus is made unto us wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30). Paul writes a lot about the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of God in his letter to the Corinthians. In chapter one he plainly declares that the preaching of the Cross of Christ is the "power of God and the wisdom of God". In chapter 2 he tells us that our faith "should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God", and that he spoke of the "wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages unto our glory; which none of the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." The child of God has an infinitely greater source of wisdom (which is found when we place our faith in what was accomplished at Calvary) than what the world calls wisdom, but God calls foolishness.
In my discussion with that person on Facebook that I referred to in the beginning of this post, that person, along with much of even the Church world believes that Eve is to blame for the fall of man. They believe that Eve is the one that persuaded Adam to "eat of the apple" so to speak. This is simply not true. The New Testament tells us that she was deceived, but that Adam was not deceived (1 Tim. 3:14). Also, according to the Hebrew Chumash, in verse 6 of Genesis 3 where it is written, "she gave also to her husband with her. . ." that that word "with" means "at one with her." He was in agreement with her eating and he was not deceived or influenced or, "hopelessly tempted", as the Chumash puts it. Also, according to the Hebrew Chumash, when Adam admitted to God that he ate of the tree, his reply of "I ate" uses the future tense of the verb. Basically he said, "I ate, and I will eat again!" In any case, that is a little off the topic of this post, but is an important fact that needs to be stated because of the oppression women have faced because of the misinterpretation of this story.
The story of deception in the Garden shows us the current condition of mankind. They believe that they are well able to choose for themselves what is good and what is bad. And while refusing to submit to God's ways and His means of obtaining righteousness and holiness, mankind prefers to believe that they are wise in themselves and have no need of humbling themselves and admitting that they are not wise enough in their own abilities to understand the issues of life.
Every child of God can also fall into this thinking if we are not diligent. It goes against human nature to humble ourselves and admit that we do not have the ability to succeed without the Lord's help. So often we try everything we can think of to succeed, and turn to prayer only after exhausting our own resources. Then if/when we do succeed, we tend to feel that we are talented, wise and good in ourselves. Just as the Tree of Life was in the center of the Garden, so Jesus Christ and Him crucified is to be in the center of our lives and in the garden of our hearts. Every day we are make a decision to depend upon ourselves or depend upon what Jesus did for us on the cross. Will we look to His Word to establish our values and "know what is good and what is bad", or will we look to our circumstances or the circumstances of those around us and determine that in our own wisdom we will decide for ourselves. So many people that love someone (perhaps a family member or good friend) who gets involved in a gay lifestyle determine that there is really nothing wrong with the gay lifestyle after all. This can be true of people accepting abortion as a necessary part of life. There is a lot of pressure in today's society to accept sin in its many forms, rather than be looked at as a prude. Then there are people who try and try to overcome sin in their own strength. All of these things are really rebellion against God. The answer for all of our needs is found by placing our faith in what Jesus did for us on the Cross. God doesn't answer our prayers based upon how good we have been. He honors our prayers when our faith is firmly planted in the finished work at Calvary and when we humbly admit that He alone is our everything. Without Him, we can do nothing (even as Jesus said).
God has sent Jesus to redeem us from our sins. In order to do that, He (Jesus) had to suffer and die on the cross, pouring out His precious Blood to cleanse us from our sins. If we could overcome sin in our own strength, Jesus would not have had to do this. Scripture says that Jesus is "made unto us wisdom". Will we look to Him as our source of wisdom, or do we depend upon our own abilities to succeed in this world?
posted by Laurie T at
1:51 PM
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