Three Tricks

found in the serpent's temptation

Photo by Michael Jerrard on Unsplash

I’ve been looking at what the serpent said to Eve in the garden in Genesis 3: 1, 4-5. Here it is:

“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” AND “You will not certainly die for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

I spotted at least three ways the serpent twisted God’s command about the tree. One, the serpent used a plural form of the word “you.” God told the rule to Adam in the singular. Two, the serpent exaggerated the rule to include any tree not just the forbidden one. And three, the serpent told Eve that her eating the fruit would lead to something desirable, namely, not death and being like God.

These three falsities seem to be at the heart of many of my temptations. One: I think the rules don’t apply to me. Two: I think following a rule means a legalistic action whereby I use words like “always,” “never,” “all” or “everything.” And three, I often fall prey to believing that if I don’t get God’s good things myself, I’ll miss out!