The Devil Tempted Eve
When the devil tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1–7), he stirred up the sinful nature in her. He did this through a clever line of reasoning.
He questioned God’s Word (verse 1). He did not deny that God had spoken. He simply questioned whether God had really said what Eve thought He had said.
He questioned God’s love for Eve (verse 1). The way Satan asked this question implies that he was questioning God’s love. “If God really loved you, He wouldn’t keep something from you, would He?” Satan used this same tactic on Jesus in the wilderness: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3). In other words, “Why are you hungry if you are God’s Son?” As the author Tennyson once said, “A lie that is all of a lie can be met with and fought outright. But a lie that is partly the truth is a harder matter to fight.”
He denied God’s Word (verse 4). Satan finally threw out God’s warning altogether, telling Eve, “You will not surely die.” It is but a short step from questioning God’s Word to denying it. If Eve had not listened to Satan questioning God’s Word, she would never have fallen into Satan’s trap when he denied God’s Word. Eve was at the wrong place, at the wrong time, listening to the wrong person, which ultimately led to her doing the wrong thing.
He substituted his own lie (verse 5). Satan told Eve that if she eats from the tree, she “will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Interestingly, this was Satan’s own sin, for he had attempted to take God’s place.
Eve saw that the tree “was pleasant to the eyes” (verse 6). This is the lust of the eyes. Satan uses this trap to try to get people to entertain fantasies in their thought life. Unfortunately, those fantasies often turn into reality.
Eve saw that the tree “was good for food” (verse 6). Having seen it, she tasted it. This is the lust of the flesh. Likewise, Satan wants us to gratify our desires immediately, whatever they might be—food, sleep, sex, pleasure, possessions, etc.
Eve saw that the tree was “desirable to make one wise” (verse 6). This is the pride of life. Satan wants us to desire to be exalted, to develop an attitude of arrogance.
Eve had a choice to make—she could believe God’s word or Satan’s word. Tragically, she chose to believe Satan, the father of Lies, rather than the One who is Truth.
