Genesis3_7

Genesis 3:7

“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”

After eating from the tree, both of them were separated from God Elohim in spirit. So their spirits died in some sense because they could no longer receive life’s supply from God—the tree of life. Simultaneously, the function of conscience was activated in their spirits. Conscience executes a direct sense of judgment according to the righteousness that comes from God Elohim. So the eyes of knowledge of good and evil were opened, and they knew that they were naked. Since their consciences declared them sinful and unholy, they felt ashamed and wanted something to cover the defilement of sin. But the fig leaves could not cover their sin.

Thus, the serpent accomplished its deception. Now let’s review the process of Satan’s deceit. First, the serpent began a conversation with a question containing deliberate denial, inspiring the woman to explain and testify to her knowledge about the tree. Second, the serpent created opposition between the woman and God Elohim. Then, the serpent gave her a conclusion based on probability to arouse her gambling instinct. Finally, the serpent presented its purpose as a premise to offer her a promise coming from the serpent, bringing benefits to entice the woman.

The question was, “Is it even so that God has said?” The denial, on one hand, modified God’s word; on the other hand, it conveyed the sense that the woman was being looked down upon or ignored by Satan and others through a rhetorical question.

The woman’s answer showed that she wanted to assert herself by adding her own words. Because the serpent placed God Elohim in opposition to the woman, Satan made her reach an uncertain conclusion. A promise resembling God’s promise, but coming from Satan, was bait for the woman and led her to fulfill the purpose of eating to obtain the benefit.

This same trick was applied to Jesus after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, when the devil, Satan, tempted Him (Matthew 4:3-10). But Jesus overcame the tempter. Reading those verses in Matthew helps us overcome Satan wisely.