Don Stewart :: In What Areas Was Eve Tempted?

In speaking to Eve, Satan attacked God in three areas. These include God's wisdom, God's Word, and God's character.

1.God's Wisdom Challenged

First, he attacked the wisdom of God. He compared all the trees and showed her there is only one tree forbidden. This planted a doubt in her mind. In effect, he was saying, Why did God do such a foolish thing as plant a tree and then not let you eat of it?

2.God's Word Doubted

Next, Satan denied the truthfulness of God's Word. He told Eve that God was misrepresenting what would happen to her if she ate of the tree. The serpent claimed the Lord was not truthful in His representation of the results of gaining this new knowledge.

3.God's Character Attacked

Finally, he attacked the character of God. Satan accused God of wishing to keep humankind ignorant by commanding them not to eat of the forbidden tree. God is charged with being selfish by not wanting them to have the same knowledge as Him.

What Happened?

The Bible records that the serpent only spoke twice to Eve, but this was enough to offset the trust she had in her Creator. Scripture says that Adam and Eve gave in to the temptation of the serpent.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took the fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate (Genesis 3:6).

Saw, Coveted, Took

There was a threefold progression of Eve's sin (she saw, she coveted, she took). This same downhill course is used elsewhere in Scripture of other's sin. In the Book of Joshua, we have the same sinful progression of Achan. After the destruction of Jericho, he saw, coveted, and took some of the booty from the destroyed city. This was against the clear commandment of God and resulted in the death of Achan and his family. The Book of James says of temptation:

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is fullgrown brings forth death (James 1:14,15).

The same threefold progression that caused Eve to sin is outlined in the New Testament.

For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh (good for food), the lust of the eyes (pleasant to the eyes), and the pride of life (desire to make one wise) is not of the Father but of the world (1 John 2:16).

Jesus' Temptation

The temptation of Jesus by Satan (Luke 3:1-14) parallels Genesis three. The devil wanted Jesus to turn the stones into bread (flesh), to gaze at all the kingdoms and their glory (eyes), and to jump down from the Temple to prove He was the Messiah (pride of life). The methods of Satan never change.

No Wisdom Gained

Eating the fruit did not make them wise as Satan had promised-rather it caused alienation from each other. They began to mistrust the other and became fearful of God. They learned the hard lesson that Satan's promises never come true. Furthermore, humanity can never become wiser by disobeying the Word of God. The Bible clearly says how wisdom can be attained.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7).

Rather than produce wisdom, the choice produced death.

Summary

According to Genesis three, Satan challenged the wisdom, Word, and character of God. Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of the serpent. Eve saw, coveted, and then took of the forbidden fruit. This same progression is found elsewhere in Scripture. We also find a similarity of tactics in the various temptations of Christ by the Devil. Since the methods of the Devil never change, we should be aware of the various means by which he works.