You Will Not Surely Die

Genesis 3:4-5

“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

God’s word to Adam had been that he had permission to eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden of Eden except that of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God told Adam that the day he did so, he would “surely die”. But Satan directly contradicted God when he said, “You will not surely die.”

This direct contradiction of God’s word did not come immediately. We have already mentioned that Satan still employs the same strategy as he did in the Garden and it is this:; he takes time to soften up his victim before he directly contradicts God.

In the early stages, he caused Eve to doubt what she thought she knew, but when he reaches his contradiction, he invokes a false piety.

“God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Of course, on one level, it is right to want to be like God. We want to love what He loves and to do what He would have us do. But the devil suggests that there is something more – a deeper knowledge of good and evil. That has to involve the experience of evil because Adam and Eve already knew about good and evil – good is obeying God’s commandment, and evil is disobeying it. Part of the devil’s lie is that you cannot know good without experiencing evil. That is still part of the devil’s lie today.     Author: Paul F. Taylor

Prayer: Lord, please help us to be alert to the wiles of the devil when he tries to make a course of action sound holy, when it is actually contrary to Your word and will. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Ref: Morris, H. (1976), The Genesis Record (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker), pp. 111-112. Image: Adobe Stock Images, licensed to author.

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