Did God REALLY say...?

Our Friday Devotion comes to us from Council Member, Lahoma:

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “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, 3 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.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:1-5

Our Wednesday night women’s Bible study group has started in the book of Genesis. This first book and its contents have been read and taught throughout most of my life being raised in a Christian family and Biblically sound home church. In our devotion passage today, we find a dialog between satan and Eve, in the newly completed Garden of Eden. The chapter before explains all that God DID say to Adam and Eve and yet the first temptation recorded in scripture was a direct challenge to what God had said.

Dear friends, please understand that this age old tactic is exactly what our adversary has used against believers since the beginning of time into our present day. If you know your Bible and have studied what God has said about what we should and should not do in our Christian walk, then it should be a no-brainer for us to simply do what God has said… and NOT do what God has said not to do. period. End of sentence. Instead, what many sadly do is “re-evaluate” what God’s word says about things that they may want to do but have learned that God has said clearly how He feels about it. In the instance of Eve, she answered the serpent correctly on the first round in verse 2 and 3: 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.’”Notice what satan’s very next reply is: “you will not certainly die”, a direct contradiction to what Eve KNEW and had already confirmed that God had said! WOW! Don’t you think at that point Eve should have just turned around and said, “YES, God DID say I would die if I did that, so I’m NOT going to do that!” Don’t you think that WE should do the very same thing when we hear the voice of our adversary whisper in our ears, “did God really say….” concerning an area that we are being tempted in?

Consider in Matthew 4 when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was tempted in the wilderness by satan. On three separate topics, satan tried to tempt Jesus and get Him to slip up, to make wrong choices that were contrary to God’s word, and on every single instance, Jesus Christ returned a response directly out of the Word of God to refute the enemy’s suggestion of misconduct. The first challenge was a physical one, creating bread to satisfy Jesus’ hunger after fasting for 40 days. The danger of this temptation was not in making bread. Jesus was not under a prohibition from miraculously creating food. On two occasions Jesus used his power to create bread for a multitude of people (see Mark 6:35-44, Mark 8:1-21). The real peril lay in Satan's proposed reason for creating bread. That reason being "If you are the Son of God." Satan was challenging Christ's credentials. If you think about it, it was very similar to satan’s first question in Genesis 1 “did God really say?” Jesus KNEW He was the Son of God that was beyond question. It was an undisputable fact. Did He defend His title, His deity? No. He answered and said, “It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4) Jesus immediately perceived the real danger, and responded with a passage from Deuteronomy 8:3. In that passage, Moses reminded the Israelites that God humbled them in the wilderness when He provided manna from heaven. After failing his first attempt, Satan, (just as he quoted God’s words in the Garden with Eve), appeals to scripture by quoting Psalm 91:11-12. When isolated from other passages, this proposal seems reasonable. If Jesus were God's Son, then scripture promised to save Him. Deceptively, Satan tried inciting Jesus to test the scripture by taking Him to the highest point on the temple and throw Himself off. Think about it, what would that have proved? Look how sly the enemy was. To commit this act would have tested God, not scripture. Jesus addressed the real issue by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16. Jesus said to him, "On the other hand it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”( Matthew 4:7) The third and final challenge was overwhelming to say the least: “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. And he said to Him, "All these things will I give you if you fall down and worship me." - Matthew 4:8-9 Since no mountain stands high enough to view all the world's kingdoms, it's likely that Satan exercised some supernatural power to show Christ "all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time" (Luke 4:5). Jesus did not question Satan's authority to grant the world's kingdoms. Bear in mind, however, that Jesus did not directly address Satan's apparent deceptions in the first two temptations. Either Satan possessed this authority, or he was validating his reputation as "the father of lies" (John 8:44). In either case, Satan's authority was not the issue. His suggestion violated what Almighty God had clearly SAID in the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3). Jesus had reached the end of His willingness to continue such ridiculous dialog with His adversary, quoted Deuteronomy 6:13 and bluntly said, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only. (Matthew 4:10)" strike three, devil, you loser, take a hike.

At every turn, Jesus used the sharp Sword of the Spirit, which is the living, active Word of God. We must do the same. Brothers and sisters, we need to become so familiar with God’s Word that we are able to return scripture accurately back when a challenge comes forth about what God has said or not said. When our enemy slithers up alongside our minds and suggests that God really didn’t mean what the scripture says, or that it doesn’t apply to us, or that it was mistranslated, or that it applied to ancient times but not 2011… you need to stand firm on the Word of God as the truth to govern your life. You need to hold fast to what God says. You need to know how to say BE GONE… FOR IT IS WRITTEN, and if you have to shout it out loud, then so be it! Don’t let the enemy use this old trick on you to tangle you up in his web of lies and deception. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free!" (John 8:32) Look at the result of Eve’s considering satan’s questioning of what God meant when He said clearly to not eat of the tree in the Garden. Look at what it cost her, her husband, all mankind, and ultimately God Who had to sacrifice His only Son to reconcile the wrong that started in the Garden. God’s Word is there for a reason, regardless if you understand why He said to do certain things and not do certain things. If you don’t know it, Learn it. Believe it. Follow it. KNOW what God said. He said it because He loves you and only wants good things for you. He has promised you a future and a hope. Take Him at HIS Word!

(sing with me)
The B-I-B-L-E… yes, that’s the book for me…
I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E!!! BIBLE!!!
Shalom, sister Lahoma

Tweet