A Question of Doubt

Genesis 3:1-2

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:”

There is always a danger in reading too much or too little into any biblical account. For instance, when we start reading Genesis 3, a number of objections immediately spring to the lips of some people – including, unfortunately, many who claim to be Bible-believing Christians. Common among those objections is the idea that these words cannot be taken literally. For one thing, snakes don’t talk. And for another, Eve did not seem to express any surprise that the snake was talking, so it can’t be true because talking animals only appear in fiction.

Taking the latter point first, there is no evidence that Eve was not surprised that the snake was talking to her. The passage says nothing about her emotional state. Indeed, it is not surprising that it does not because, as an example of perfect humanity, as she then was, her reactions might be alien to what we would experience today.

“Did God actually say…?” began the serpent. In so doing, he was casting doubt on God’s word. The reaction should have been to refuse to question what God had clearly said. Indeed, as the man was put there to lead, she should have referred this matter to him. The serpent continued, “Did God actually say ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” God had said no such thing. Satan has not changed his tactics. He continues to work by throwing doubt on God’s word and deliberately misquoting it. We need to be on our guard for this.    Author: Paul F. Taylor

Prayer: Father God, help us to see through the craftiness of the evil one. Deliver us from this evil, and keep us trusting implicitly in Your word. Amen.

Ref: Sarfati, J. (2015), The Genesis Account (Powder Springs, GA: Creation Book Publishers), p. 348.  Image: Adobe Stock Images, licensed to author.