The Schemes of Satan, Part Three
A Devotional Series from Genesis
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
3/16 Reading Portions: Exodus 27; John 6; Proverbs 3; Galatians 2
Genesis 3:4-5
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
DEPRAVITY
Once the Deceiver gets us to doubt God’s Word, causing us to add to God’s Word or take away from God’s Word, He will outright deny God’s Word:
“You will not surely die.”
As soon as YHVH God planted the garden in the presence of Adam (Gen 2:7-15), He told the man that to eat from that forbidden tree meant death (Gen 2:16-18). It’s not like the LORD God didn’t give His two image-bearers blessed alternatives. Not only were they given the Tree of Life, but they were permitted to eat from every other tree in the garden. Once we’ve doubted and drawn our own conclusions by adding to or taking away from God’s Word, we’ve already essentially opposed God’s Word, spiritually speaking. So, in once sense, Satan only gives voice to what we’ve already done. The next scheme is the most insidious of all.
After Satan opposes God’s Word through an outright denial of God’s Word, He immediately proceeds to interpret God’s Word with a depraved and despicable perversion of it:
“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Why is this the most insidious of His schemes? It presumes upon the plans and purposes of God, and moreover, by its inference, it dishonors the nature and character of God—as if God deliberately kept something good and desirable from us. Notice the subtlety and craftiness of what Satan says. The devil actually tells the truth but frames it in a way so that it sounds like God doesn’t want them to have open eyes, and that God doesn’t want them to be like Him. But God did make us to be like His Son (Gen 1:26-27); and wants us to be like His Son (Rom 8:28-29). This is Adultery 101 (remember adultery is simply impure and perverse idolatry). Eating the fruit of the forbidden tree certainly caused them to know good and evil; however, by Adam’s disobedience to the command of God, their fellowship with God was broken, and thus, they had no power to be able to choose between good and evil. By their disobedience they would become just like the devil—dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1).
Again, the remedy is putting on the full armor of God (Eph 6:10-11),1 which is practically applying the truth of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Keep on the lookout for the article coming that will express the practical truth of the armor of God as Christ Jesus, how each element correlates to the truth of Jesus Messiah and how to apply it in our daily warfare against the devil and his minions. It should be up sometime today or tomorrow.