Never Have a Discussion With a Talking Snake! – Bible Study – Genesis 3:1-7
Written by Dave Urbanski
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”—1 Peter 5:8
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”—John 10:10
Satan wants to take away our joy, kill our relationships, and annihilate our hearts. That’s why he’s called “the enemy” in the Bible.
But you’ve probably noticed that he rarely accomplishes any of his evil in overt, obvious ways. Instead Satan is subtle and tricky and deceptive. And that’s why we need a plan to combat the devil’s sneak attacks.
On Sunday we looked at one of the most famous passages of Scripture: Genesis 3 — the fall of humanity. The moment sin entered the world. And the very first verse of the chapter gets right to heart of Satan’s methods, noting that “the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.”
First off, God created the serpent. Not only that, the serpent was part of the Lord’s creative process that he deemed “very good” in Genesis 1. Which goes to show that Satan uses good things to get us into trouble. Even “very good” things. Indeed, 2 Corinthians 11 points out that Satan “masquerades as an angel of light.” And what looks better or more inviting than such an entity?
That is, until he starts speaking — and getting us to ask if God really knows what he’s doing.
In next verse of Genesis 3, the serpent strikes up a conversation with the woman — while the man was right there with her, as a matter of fact — and started to throw doubt into her head: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” The woman’s first mistake was entering the conversation in the first place: she answers the serpent’s question — and then it all goes downhill from there. The serpent convinces the woman that God is wrong — or perhaps that the Lord didn’t mean what he said or in the way she thought. Doubt creeps in. Conflicting voices. And maybe, just maybe, there’s more fun and interesting stuff to be had by eating of the fruit of this tree — and we’ll “be like God” and know good and evil.
That’s the kicker, isn’t it? When it comes right down to it, that’s where all sin begins and ends, right? We don’t just want to be like God; we want to be God. To be in ultimate control. To do what we want when we want and with whom we want. We’re hopelessly addicted to living as if we have the power. That we’re the captains of our ships. The drivers behind the wheels of life. But every time it’s the same outcome: A shipwreck — and a crash and burn.
And that’s exactly what happened when the man and woman ate of that tree: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”
Boom. Just like that. Paradise and perfection in a garden with not a care in the world — and then we somehow manage to mess it up in an instant. And impact of the man and woman’s sin is felt to this very day while we, too, toil and struggle and sweat — still looking for a way of our own making. To go it alone without God’s help. To taste fruit that’s no good for us in the end.
Again, it’s key to realize that the fruit looked good! Outwardly there wasn’t anything wrong with it that the man and woman could detect. The only thing is that God knew the facts and told them so. But just like with us today, often what God says — what we know to be true — falls on deaf ears. We don’t trust God to meet our needs. We think he’s holding out on us. And before we know it, Satan has enticed us into sin using something that looks good, seems to offer pleasure, fun, good times. Therefore, it’s a wise idea to ask yourself, “What does Satan use in my life to start the conversation?” (Then don’t have it!)
And did you notice that the first question Satan has for the woman is about God? Satan loves to talk to us about God, about religion. Problem is, the devil doesn’t want us to pursue a relationship with God. No way. That doesn’t work for Satan. Because once we’re intimate with the Lord, it becomes much harder for Satan to entice us away from God’s embrace. Instead the devil will try to start one of those familiar chats: “Did God really mean that?”
The answer, of course, is yes. And it gets back to that age-old falsehood that the Lord is some cosmic killjoy who’s only interested in us following a bunch of rules and then bashing us over our heads when we break them. Seriously — does it make any sense for God to go through the effort of creating an entire universe for us and for our enjoyment just so he can be crabby and mean and petty? There would’ve been much simpler ways for God to scratch that itch if that were indeed his nature — and we know it isn’t.
God sets limits for amazingly loving reasons — and gives us the power to stay within those limits — so we can live our best lives possible and be in the best positions to have an incredible, exciting, adventurous relationship with him.
That’s why it’s so important to teach limits to young people — it helps them learn to handle disappointment and to find contentment within them. If, on the other hand, we give children no limits, they will find their pleasures and identities outside of them.
Proverbs 14:12 reads, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Such was the fate of the man and the woman in the garden when they decided their way was better than God’s way.
May we daily live in the awareness that Satan is right around the corner and ready to lay his lies and distortions on us. May we daily live with humility knowing that not only is God’s way infinitely better, but it’s also anything but life sapping. In fact, the Lord’s way is life giving — and if we’re willing to listen to his “no,” he has an eternity full of “yes” just waiting for us. And we can embark on that abundant life right now.
Just be careful who you’re talking to.
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