” ‘Did God really say, “you must not

eat from any tree in the garden?’

The woman said to the serpent,

‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,

but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit

from the tree that is in the middle of

the garden, and you must not touch it,

or you will die.’ ” Genesis 3:1-3 (NIV)

It started in the garden.  The earth was days old and already God’s word was maligned, misquoted, and misinterpreted.  Things haven’t improved much since that day in Eden.

The exchange between Satan and Eve does provide an interesting look at the dangers of not knowing or understanding scripture.

Satan, in the quise of the serpent, begins the apostasy with a simple question, “Did God really say…?”.  This ploy of the Devil is a tactic he uses with people to this day, counting on our ignorance of scripture to make it wildly successful. 

His question has done more damage in history than any other scheme he has tried.  Our lack of knowledge of God’s Word, coupled with a lack of faith, just aids the effort.

As I reflect on all the areas where that simple misleading question has permeated, it is truly staggering.  So many denominations setting aside parts of God’s Word as fable, untrustworthy, or unneccessary.  So many Christians espousing worldviews contrary to a biblical view because “God didn’t really mean what He said when…”.

This trap, that the enemy has devised is what the writer of Hebrew’s must have had in mind while admonishing the jews in the church he was addressing.  He was taking them to task for not growing in their faith.  They were still infants “needing milk”, not “solid food”, the solid food of the deeper truths of God’s Word.

The writer describes mature believers, devoted to the study of God’s Word in this way; “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:14(NIV).  The deep study of scripture is what is needed to avoid the enemies’ trap.

Misleading questions by the serpent were not the only problem in the garden.  The other problem lay with Eve.  It was a similar issue, having a common root, the lack of knowledge of God’s Word.  It, too, is a pervasive problem still resonating today.

Eve tried to use God’s Word when answering the serpent’s question.  Eve can be commended for answering temptation in the manner she chose, Christ, himself, used scripture when confronted by Satan in the wilderness.  Her problem was not getting it right when she said that she must not eat of the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden, and not touch it.  She didn’t know God’s Word and in error added things that God never said.

God’s only prohibition in the garden had to do with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  He told Adam; “…You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”Genesis 2:16-17(NIV)

Eve’s version never specified which tree, she only vaguely described a tree in the middle of the garden, in fact there were two trees in that location, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life.  She also added to God’s word the admonishment to not “touch” the fruit.  That was never part of God’s warning.

Misquoting scripture, misinterpreting scripture,adding to scripture, and subtracting from scripture are all problems that have plagued the world through history.  It all started in the garden.

Yours in Christ,

Todd