Genesis3_4-5

Genesis 3:4-5

And the serpent said to the woman, Ye will not certainly die;

but God knows that in the day ye eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as God, knowing good and evil.

The serpent gave the woman a conclusion according to its hypothesis: that her eyes would be opened and that she would be like God, knowing good and evil. From the previous verses, Satan had already set up an opposition between the woman and God Elohim. Thus, the serpent positioned itself on the woman’s side and caused her to suspect God.

First, the hypothesis was based on reality as its foundation, but Satan concealed the fact that humans were already created by God in His image and after His likeness. Then Satan injected its evil purpose into the truth by modifying the sequence and the details. Humans were already like God in this sense; it was not something that would occur only after eating the fruit and having their eyes opened in the future. Satan used the act of eating the tree to point toward a reality that already existed.

According to Satan’s hypothesis, it grasped the woman’s ability to think and used her reasoning to reach the conclusion that she would not certainly die. The phrase “not certainly” always activates a sense of possibility. That is why some people enjoy gambling in casinos, even though it is certain that they will lose in the end and that the true winner is the casino.

There is a famous saying from the Gospel that responds to this situation: “But let your word be Yea, yea; Nay, nay; but what is more than these is from evil” (Matthew 5:37).

From these verses, we can observe a pattern in our world. First, an opposition is established among different groups. Then, an evil purpose is mixed into the premise to lead toward a consequence, even when the reality being promised has already been possessed by some group. Later, this reality is taken as the basis of a hypothesis to produce an uncertain result, which is used to lure others into completing a cunning scheme. Many rulers use a similar pattern or model to deceive people and manipulate them into doing what they want.