Twisted Perspective

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?" Genesis 3:1

From the beginning of time Satan has tried to sneak in and twist our thoughts. He tries to adjust our thinking from positive to negative, from God to sin. Eve, in just 4 verses goes from being created out of Adam's rib, to being tempted to sin. While we don't know how much time elapsed between Eve's creation and the fall, we do know God had informed Adam of a few things: God made all kinds of trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food (Genesis 2:9), in the middle of the garden was the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9), God put Adam in the garden to work it and take care of it (Genesis 2:15), and God commanded Adam that he is free to eat from any tree in the garden except for the tree of good and evil or he will certainly die (Genesis 2:16).

We know Adam is familiar with the garden because God placed him there to live and take care of it. So Adam is very familiar with ALL of the other trees that were good for food and pleasing to the eye. Adam immediately filled his wife in on what God had told him. This was not an instance of miscommunication from the husband. Eve even repeats this back to the serpent so she can't blame this one on Adam. But, she adds her own little twist "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." (emphasis added)

Satan had already begun to twist Eve's thoughts. God never said if they touch the fruit they will die, only if the eat it. Satan had Eve doubting God's words and provision. The serpent had Eve believing God was holding out on her. She chose to see the one thing God said she couldn't have instead of all the beauty and fruit he said she could. Eve allowed the serpent to get in her head and twist God's words and her perspective. We can't be mad at Eve, this still happens to each and every one of us. Every. Single. Day.

I often think about this moment, of how different God intended this world to be for us. Just this story alone shows me God's heart of abundance and protection. He gave us free will and the choice to follow him from the beginning. It was Eve's choice to trust his words then for her own good, and we still have that same choice now.