Scripture: Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” …
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
Devotion: From the very first chapters of the Bible, we see temptation. Adam and Eve are given one command: to not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Shortly after this, the serpent comes in and asks Eve if that is really what God said. The serpent is conniving and crafty with his words. He convinces Eve that God didn’t give that command out of loving protection, but rather out of restrictive authority. And she gives into the temptation.
Temptation is nothing new to mankind. But thankfully, even after Adam and Eve were disobedient, God saw it fit to send us a Messiah. The first reference to the Savior coming is at the very end of our reading for today, “He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). This is a reminder for us that even when we give into temptation, much like Adam and Eve, we have a loving Heavenly Father who had a plan to rescue us from the very beginning.
What does it say about God that immediately after the rebellion, He speaks of a Messiah to come and conquer sin and death? Whether we are tempted, or if we sin by giving into temptation, we have the beautiful promise of Jesus that we can return to time and time again.
Reflect:
- When you face temptation or fall into sin, how can you turn your heart to run straight to Jesus?
