Reading: Genesis 3:1-24
Satan is man’s greatest enemy; he is a liar par excellence and the destroyer of souls. If he loses a soul to grace he will work at destroying the life. He pulls apart (“devours”) the life as a lion does his prey. Peter tells us therefore to be sober and vigilant because of the subtlety and deceit of Satan (I Peter 5:8).
He approached the vulnerable part of humanity. He addressed the woman first; she was more attractive to him because she was the one with the greater sensibility, with more feeling and more emotionally responsive. As Satan aimed at the weaker part of humanity in the first temptation, so today he attacks that weaker part of our lives, wearing us down until we yield to his overtures.
He took the position of pretended ignorance. He asked a question. This was a confidence-builder for Eve, giving her the impression that she was a match for him. This tactic still works today; if Satan can get a response (our attention), he has accomplished his first goal. How many have fallen because they entered into dialogue with the Devil, rationalizing sin.
He introduced doubt into the mind. This was not an all-out attack on God, but a simple doubt planted concerning the credibility of God. Satan said, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? This is really a statement of shock and surprise that a good and bountiful God would limit and restrain humanity from eating of His bounty.
Satan plants the seed question in the mind; “Does God not want you to have “all” the benefits and blessings of his creation. Is He not selfish and restrictive?” God knows what is best; He withholds that which He knows will not be good for us.
“Temptations will come, but do not entertain them; drive them away.” C. H. Spurgeon
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