Temptation - Genesis 3:1-13,21 & Genesis 2:16-17

The following are seven observations based on the temptation of Adam and Eve.

The Context - Adam has received instructions from God and by implication Eve has received the same instructions from Adam. At the time of the temptation it appears that Adam and Eve are standing by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is at this point the serpent arrives on the scene and talks to Eve and there is reason to believe that Adam was present during this conversation (verse 6).

1. Obedience is an act of faith. Obedience does not require us to know why we should obey God’s instructions. There is no evidence God supplied Adam with the reasons why eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil would cause their death - ultimately he had to trust God. Likewise Eve had to trust God but in her case she received her instructions second hand through Adam (which is a bit like us - we receive God’s instructions second hand through the Bible).
2. Flee Temptation - We know from James 1:14-15 that temptation starts with our evil desires - so we see with Adam and Eve before the serpent arrived they were already by the tree which suggests in their heart they desired what the tree had to offer. If there is an area of temptation in your life, then as Paul says to Timothy ‘flee youthful lusts’ 2 Timothy 2:22 or as Jesus says in rather a strong passage ‘if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off’ Matthew 5:30. Recovering alcoholics and ex-drug addicts both know this to be true. Daniel refused the king’s meat for a similar reason. For us it may mean putting restrictions on what we see and hear. We have a responsibility to keep away from temptation.
3. Use the Word of God - When we are in a vulnerable situation the Devil will often try to make things worse. Jesus was hungry and tired when the Devil came to tempt Him. Jesus’s response was to use the word of God. Unfortunately Eve’s use of the word of God was weak - if you compare Genesis 2:16-17 with Genesis 3:2-3 - Eve leaves out the word ‘every’ when referring to the fruit they could eat and most importantly she misses out the word ‘surely’ when referring to dying if they eat the fruit. If we are to resist the devil (James 4:7) we must speak the word of God with authority and confidence - there is reason to believe Eve was not doing that and therefore she succumbed to the enemy's lies.
4. Do not teach disobedience to God’s instructions - It appears having eaten the fruit Eve was not yet fully conscious of the negative effects of her actions because she then compounds her disobedience by giving it to Adam to eat! As Jesus said in Matthew 5:19 any who teach others to break the least of His commandments shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.
5. Reject disobedience to God’s instructions, instead pray for those involved - Adam should have rejected Eve’s offer - instead he should have sought God’s help in solving this problem just as Daniel did in Daniel 9:5 when he prayed for Israel. Just because everyone else is doing something is not a good reason to carry out an action that involves disobedience to God’s instructions.
6. When we feel condemned/guilty, seek God and do not run away from Him - The devil wants us to hide but as we learn in 1 John 1:9  God wants us to confess our sins because He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
7. It is the blood of Jesus not our good works that will cleanse us - If we compare Genesis 3:7 with Genesis 3:21 we see that the fig leaves of our own efforts can deal with sin it takes the death of a living being to deal with the effects of sin. In the Garden of Eden that required the death of an animal - probably the first animal to die in the history of the earth. For us, dealing with sin will mean the death of Jesus, for it is by His blood that we will be cleansed Revelation 1:5, 1 John 1:7 & Hebrews 9:14