Notice that the appeal the serpent made is quite an interesting one. It was an appeal to the flesh—“the tree was good for food”—but that is not all; that is not the thing that is really important.

“It was pleasant to the eyes”—it was an appeal to the psychological part of man, to his mind. “And a tree to be desired to make one wise”—this is an appeal to the religious side of man.

Genesis 3:6-13 KJV

[6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

[7] And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

[8] And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

[9] And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

[10] And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

[11] And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

[12] And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

[13] And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Genesis 3:6

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

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You will find that this is the exact temptation that Satan brought to the Lord Jesus in the wilderness (see Matt. 4, Mark 1, and Luke 4).

First of all, he said to our Lord, “Make these stones into bread”—this was the appeal to the flesh, as the tree was good for food.

Then Satan showed the Lord the kingdoms of the world and offered them to Him—that was an appeal to the mind, as the tree was pleasant to the eyes.

Then finally he said, “Cast Yourself down from the temple”—this was an appeal to the religious side of man, as the tree was to be desired to make one wise.

I do not think that the Devil has changed his tactics today.

He uses the same tactics with you and me, and the reason that he still uses them is that they work.

He hasn’t needed to change his tactics, for we all seem to fall for the same line.

John wrote: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).

“The lust of the flesh”—that is, the tree was good to eat.

“The lust of the eyes”—the tree was good to look at.

“The pride of life”—the tree was to be desired to make one wise.

These things are not of the Father, but of the world.

Jesus said that these sins of the flesh come out of the heart of man, way down deep.

This is where Satan is making his appeal.

This is the method that he is using in order that he might reach in and lead mankind astray.

And he succeeded.

They were told that they would know good and evil—and what happened?

We now have the results of the fall of man.

This presents the lust of the eyes.

This presents the lust of the flesh.

This exemplifies the pride of life.

This constitutes the Fall of humanity.

This refers to the fact that evidently Adam was an observer to all these proceedings;

Some claim that he ate of the forbidden fruit which she offered him out of love for her; however, no one ever sins out of love;

Eve submitted to the temptation out of deception, but “Adam was not deceived” [I Tim. 2:14]; he fell because of unbelief; he simply didn’t believe what God had said about the situation;

Contrast Verse 6 with Luke 4:1-13; both present the three temptations, “the lust of the flesh,” “the lust of the eyes,” and “the pride of life”; the first man falls, the Second Man conquers.

Genesis 3:7

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

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“And the eyes of them both were opened”—this refers to their conscience.

Before the fall, man did not have a conscience; he was innocent.

Innocence is ignorance of evil.

Man did not make conscience.

It is an accuser that each one of us has living on the inside of us.

“And they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” Have you ever noticed that the fig tree is the only tree that is specifically mentioned?

(The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not an apple tree. I do not know what it was, but I am almost sure it was not an apple tree.)

These fig leaves concealed but did not really cover.

Adam and Eve did not confess; they just attempted to cover up their sin.

They were not ready to admit their lost condition.

This is the same condition of man today in religion.

He goes through exercises and rituals, he joins churches, and he becomes very religious.

Have you ever noticed that Christ cursed the fig tree?

That is quite interesting.

And He denounced religion right after that, by the way; He denounced it with all His being because religion merely covers over sin.

In this temptation Satan wanted to come between man’s soul and God.

In other words, he wanted to wean man from God, to win man over to himself, and to become the god of man.

The temptations of the flesh would not have appealed to man in that day, anyway.

He was not tempted to steal or lie or covet.

He was just tempted to doubt God.

What was the trouble with the rich young ruler?

He did not believe God.

In the parable of the tares, the tares are those who would not believe God.

Notice Satan’s method.

First, Eve saw that the tree was good for food; second, it was pleasant to the eye; and third, it was to be desired to make one wise.

Satan works from the outside to the inside, from without to within.

On the other hand, God begins with man’s heart.

Religion is something that you rub on the outside, but God does not begin with religion.

May I make a distinction here: Christianity is not a religion; Christianity is Christ.

There are a lot of religions, but the Lord Jesus went right to the fountainhead when He said, “Ye must be born again.”

He said to the Pharisees who were very religious on the outside, “Make the inside of the platter clean.

You are just like a mausoleum, beautiful on the outside with marble and flowers, but inside full of dead men’s bones.” What a picture!

And Adam and Eve, instead of confessing their sin, sewed fig leaves together as a covering.

May I say to you, there is really no new style in fig leaves.

Men are still going to church and going through religious exercises and good works instead of confessing the sin of their hearts.

This refers to the consciousness of guilt as a result of their sin.

This refers to the fact that they had lost the covering light of purity, which previously had clothed their bodies.

Now, the sinners clothe themselves with morality, sacraments, and religious ceremonies; they are as worthless as Adam’s apron of fig leaves.

Genesis 3:8

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

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It may seem odd that God is described as walking in the garden, since “God is a spirit” (John 4: 24).

The language is most likely a way of portraying the closeness that has characterized the relationship between God and the two humans to this point.

One may assume that Adam and Eve’s “walk” up to now has pleased God, and they have welcomed the opportunity to walk with Him whenever He comes into the garden. That situation is about to change.

Adam and his wife no longer welcome the sound of God’s approach.

The trees of the garden that have been given to them for their pleasure and enjoyment (Genesis 2: 16) are now used as a shield to hide behind.

The two are trying to avoid having to face the Lord.

Genesis 3:9

And the LORD God called unto Adam , and said unto him, Where art thou?

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God already knows where Adam is, of course. God asks Where art thou? because Adam needs to know that God desires a word with him.

Religion will separate you from God—and Adam is lost.

Adam is lost, and it is God seeking him and not man seeking God.

Genesis 3:10

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

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Adam’s admission of being afraid signals the end of the closeness that has characterized the relationship that he and Eve have enjoyed between themselves and God to this point.

The nakedness that had produced no shame previously (Genesis 2: 25) is now a source of shame.

Adam is not fully naked at this point since both he and Eve have clothed themselves (3: 7).

But even though Adam has covered his physical nakedness, he senses that he has not covered it enough to be comfortable in the presence of God.

It is tragically, painfully clear at this point that the serpent has lied.

Yes, the eyes of the two humans are open as the serpent had promised (Genesis 3: 5 , 7); but “knowing good and evil” (v. 5) is not the pleasurable experience that the serpent had led them to believe it would be.

Adam “knows” he is guilty of the evil of breaking God’s commandment; he “knows” he can no longer be close with God.

It would have been far better for him simply to have trusted and obeyed God than to possess the bitter knowledge that he has acquired through disobedience.

Genesis 3:11

And he said , Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

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Again, it is not information that God seeks as He questions Adam. Rather, the questions are designed to get Adam to realize something.

The second of the Lord’s questions goes straight to the heart of the matter: has Adam disobeyed the clear command given him by his Creator?

Genesis 3:12

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

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Adam avoids giving direct answers to the Lord’s questions.

Instead, Adam points an accusing finger at the woman— the very person whom he had earlier described ecstatically as “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2: 23)!

Now it appears that he wants nothing to do with her.

Adam even suggests that some blame be placed upon the Lord since Eve is the woman whom thou gavest to be with me.

Perhaps Adam is implying that being “alone” would not have been such a bad thing after all, in contrast with what the Lord had stated (2: 18).

Adam is correct when he says she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

That is indeed what happened according to Genesis 3: 6 .

But for Adam to create a scenario that absolves him of all guilt and responsibility is a consequence of the fall that humans continue to practice and perfect.

Notice that there is no confession on Adam’s part.

The important thing is not so much that he blamed the woman or, as we would say in the common colloquialism of the day, we call it “blame-shifting, or he passed the buck,”.

But there is no confession of sin on his part.

Genesis 3:13

And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

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Here is some more of that so-called “buck passing.”

Now God speaks to the woman.

The tone appears a bit softer than that used with the man.

Perhaps this is because the man had received from the Lord himself the command not to eat from the forbidden tree (Genesis 2: 17), while the woman apparently knows of the command from the man.

Even so , the woman knew about this command before breaking it (3: 2 , 3).

Eve admits more of the truth than Adam does.

Her statement the serpent beguiled me may reveal some blame-shifting on her part, but the key word beguiled indicates that she knows that a deception has occurred.

The serpent is the source of the deception.

The bliss and delight that he implied would belong to the man and the woman are nowhere to be found.

I hope that you have really enjoyed this post,

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