“Why are we going down this path?” Adam asks as Eve hurries along. “Eve, not again. You know what father said about the fruit on that tree.” Undeterred, Eve makes her way to the place that has become her favorite spot in the garden. However, this day will be different from the many other days, because this day a temptation would present itself to Eve in the most unusual fashion.
Surrounded by the lush fertile foliage of the garden stood the majestic tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Its fruit hung low, making it easy picking for anyone who would simply reach out and pluck it from the branch.
Eve was drawn to the tree; the fruit seemed to call her name every time she was near it. Adam felt the same way, but the words of his father were stronger than the allure of the tree. It wasn’t that Eve did not believe Father’s words; it was her curiosity that captivated her. This is why she spent hours standing there, looking, gazing, even longing to just reach out and touch the fruit.
This day a serpent was coiled around one of the branches as if awaiting her arrival. While standing there in silence, looking, thinking about this wonderful fruit, something quite odd happened. The serpent spoke to her. Her thoughts were so wrapped around the fruit that she did not even notice. The serpent posed a question, seemingly an honest question. “Did your father tell you that you cannot eat the fruit from the trees in the garden? “ “Oh no,” Eve responded, “We can freely eat the fruit from every tree in the garden,” pausing, “except the fruit from this tree,” the longing in her voice was evident. “Why would your father not allow you to eat from this tree?” asked the serpent. “He did not say, only that we will die if we eat it, or even touch it,” she replied.
The subtly of the serpent was in full force with his next statement. “You will not die. Your father knows that if you eat the fruit from this tree that you will understand the difference between what is good, and what is evil,” the serpent told her. The temptation now fully in place, the serpent waited quietly while Eve processed what had been said.
After a long pause, she slowly stretched out her hand, reaching for the low-lying fruit. Wrapping her hand around it, she paused, but nothing happened; giving it a tug, plucked it from the tree. Her eyes glimmered as she gazed upon the fruit before placing it to her lips, opening her mouth, and taking a bite.
All this time, Adam, standing in the background, silently watching, taking in the entire conversation, yet saying nothing. Perhaps Adam too longed to eat the fruit from the tree. Perhaps, willing to let Eve be the guinea pig, to see what would happen.
With the juice of the fruit running down her cheek, Eve turns, outstretched arm, placing the fruit on Adam’s lips. He too takes a bite. For a brief moment, the two are seemingly in a surreal world with time rushing past them. As quickly as the moment came, it passed. Eve dropped the fruit to the ground, as she and Adam looked at each other with the shocking revelation that they were naked.
The danger of Eve’s temptation is the fact that it impacted all of humanity from that moment until the end of time. It was not a simple act that affected only her. Temptation is never a harmless act. It is meant to have a broad and lasting impact. It is a tool of the adversary, the devil, that is used countless times every day.
In the beginning, Eve fell for it, as did Adam; and since then, all of humanity has fallen for it. It seems we were doomed to fall for temptation over and over, and over again. But then Jesus shows up giving temptation a run for its money. In fact, he beat it every time it presented itself. The way he beat it was quoting the word of God—every single time, without variation.
Consider this
Eve told the serpent what the father said, “don’t eat from the fruit of the tree, or you will die.” In essence, she was quoting the word of God. Why did it work for Jesus, and not Eve? Eve responded to a subtle question, while the longing of her heart was in agreement with the temptation. Jesus spoke the word of God because it is the only tool (remember it is called the sword of the Spirit) that will defeat the temptation.
There is a place in the Old Testament book of Proverbs that goes something like this: A fool quoting a proverb is a limp as a wet noodle. Eve was not quoting the word of God as a defensive weapon, Jesus was. Eve lost, while Jesus won.
There are so many directions this can take, with so many lessons to be applied, but understand that temptation is a tool used by the enemy to defeat you. The subtilty of the thought is designed to make it “feel” like it is your own—and to a degree, it is. You can only be tempted by something that is of interest to you. For example, if you do not like apple pie, you could see, smell, and be offered a slice all day long without any desire to have a slice.
If on the other hand, being a diabetic, a slice of apple pie causes your blood sugar to spike to dangerous levels, in spite of an insulin injection, you are wise to stay away from apple pie. This is like Eve. She knew what her father said about the fruit of the tree. She knew what he said about the consequences of disobeying. However, the desire to eat the fruit was stronger than the desire to obey her father. Her curiosity was stronger than her belief in what her father said. Adam was no help because he too felt the same way.
So, what is the answer? The answer is three-fold. First, you saturate yourself in the word of God. You do this by studying, not reading the Bible. Part of the success of the streaming program The Chosen is the fact that the writers delve into the backstory of people being read about—like the above story with Eve. Forget having a reading program, in which you read so many chapters a day. Instead having a learning program, where you take the time to study the story you are reading—like the program The Chosen. Allow yourself to explore what you might feel, or how you might respond if you were in that situation.
This is important because it builds an inner strength enabling your resolve to run deeper than simply memorizing a certain scripture.
Secondly, realize that you are given to eating apple pie, (in this example) so you must avoid any place where apple pie is served. It will likely mean that you must make sacrifices, sometimes difficult sacrifices, but necessary sacrifices in order to avoid being tempted by apple pie. There will be times when it feels unfair—and you will be correct—that you are making such a sacrifice. These are the times that you must allow yourself to think about the consequences of eating the pie. Who else will be affected, possibly hurt because you ate it? Is the momentary pleasure going to be worth the long-lasting impact of enjoying that slice of apple pie? So, don’t go there.
The third part of your answer is to surround yourself with friends, companions-in-arms, to assist you in the times where you must be around an apple pie. Sadly, unlike having Adam go with you, take someone you are able to lean on when you are weak. This is the beauty of fellowshipping with those who believe the way you do. Everyone is able to encourage the other at some point in time, enabling everyone to be successful in overcoming the temptation.
Eve was standing where she should not have been standing, looking at something she knew better than to look at, with someone who felt the same way as she did. It was a setup for disaster—and what a disaster it was!