Eve's Temptation

"La Roca", which means "The Rock", is the name of our Thursday night Bible study. It was started last spring as an in depth Bible study for people who really wanted to go deep in the Word. The guys in the group have definitely been learning a lot and starting to ask a lot of Biblical questions. Last week we decided as a group that we wanted to read through the whole Bible together as a group, to really know what it says and see what's truly in there. So we read through Genesis chapters 1-3. It seems every time I read a familiar passage from the Bible I still learn something new. Have you ever had that experience? I think that's the part where in Hebrews 4:12 the word of God is described as living and active...So here's what I caught this time.

So God creates the heavens and earth and everything in it. He creates man and woman in his image. Then he designs a garden just for them and puts them there. It's beautiful. It's refreshing. It's like a fully stocked kitchen. I can imagine fruits and vegetables like we've never seen before hanging from every branch and flowers blooming from every vine, stem, and bush. But there's one rule... 

¹⁵ Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. ¹⁶ The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; ¹⁷ but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not ^[n]eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2)

 Ok. I think man can handle that. Eat from everything for free? No problem. Avoid that one tree? No problem. What's "die"? Hmmm...Never heard of it before. Never seen it before. Whatever... Then God makes a helper for Adam. Niiiiiiiice. Enter Eve. She's beautiful. She's perfect. She's Adam's soul mate. Literally. Then along comes the snake...

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from ^[a]any tree of the garden’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; ³ but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”  (Genesis 3, emphasis mine).

Now isn't that interesting. Huh. God told Adam not to eat from the tree. Eve was told she couldn't eat or touch the fruit. Now did God tell Eve she couldn't touch it or was Adam in charge of telling Eve what God had instructed? She implies God specifically told her not to touch the fruit. Doesn't that point out even from the beginning of time of the the unique differences in identity between men and women? Man was told not to eat. Woman was told not to eat or even touch. This is so true. As we know men are much more visual creatures while women crave touch. Men can go into a store to look, but many women need to touch and feel things as they go through a store. My impression from reading the story is that God knew this, too, and warned Eve differently than he warned Adam. He warned her that touching the fruit would cause her to die. Why? Because I think God knew that is she got close enough to touch it, the temptation of touching the fruit would be too much for her and she would be more likely to eat it. This was God's way of protecting her by design.

I think this is a good reminder for us today. While there is no new temptation or new sin, what tempts women is often different than what tempts men...that is to say they struggle with the same temptations and the same sins, but how they approach the same sin is different. For example, a man and a woman may both struggle with over eating. The man may be able to have chocolate in the house and not be tempted to eat it because he can forget about it. But a woman with chocolate in the house cannot forget where that chocolate is and exactly how much is left. It may be in the middle of the pantry which is full of good things to eat, healthy options. But at the first moment of stress, when she thinks she lacks something or needs comfort, that chocolate will be gone. That chocolate is close enough to touch it...and once a woman touches chocolate, it takes strength to resist not putting it in the mouth.

What else are struggles for us today? Can you see the garden God has put you in? All the blessings and things He has told you that you can have, touch, eat, do, be in charge of? Can you see the one thing in the middle of that garden that God has asked you specifically not to eat...not to even touch...because He knows how you are designed and how you work? Because He wants to protect you from the consequences of those action? Stand firm. God will provide a way out from that temptation. Be obedient to his warning.

Of course I also have to end with a bit of humor...Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the snake, and the snake didn't have a leg to stand on ;)