The Danger of Dialoguing with Devils

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Remember Eve? What happened when she started joining in a conversation with "the serpent"? He influenced her thinking...he poisoned it, he polluted it with exactly enough misinformation to draw her away from what she once believed to be true. She doubted God, not because God is a liar, but because the devil who was speaking through the snake, muddled up her thinking with half-truths and outright lies.

Genesis 3:1

 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (KJV)

We see from this verse that:

1) the serpent is subtle...what does that mean? This link gives these synonyms for the word subtle: sly, tricky, foxy, slick. 

2) the serpent uses God's own words against Him with Eve by asking Eve a question, a simple question which seems so harmless, a question that carries alot of baggage, because it carries defiance and hatred against God. Satan through the serpent said "Hath God said 'ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden' ?" Pure poison.

Genesis 3:2-3

  And the woman said unto the serpent, 

"We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:   But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. "

What happened there? Is that what God said to Adam? Was anything said about dying if they touched it? 

God told Adam:

Genesis 2:16-17

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:   But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.  

 We see that already Eve is a little defensive in answering the devil, causing her to feel the need to embellish God's words as given to Adam. Have you ever done that? Someone challenges you so you get a little nervous, and add to your argument to make it sound more dramatic...? I see that tactic used in dramatic presentations on television or in the cinema quite often, and I know that I've done it myself. 

So then what happens?

Genesis 3:4-5 

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:   For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

The devil does two things here:

1) He lies outright: "Ye shall not surely die". This goes directly against what God said for God said "thou shalt surely die"

2) He says God is withholding knowledge from them: knowing good and evil. The devil says with this knowledge they will be as gods. Here it gets tricky, hence he is showing that subtle nature with this slight of hand. Why would she need to know about evil? She knew what was good because she and Adam were very close and well acquainted with God, who is the ultimate good. The devil must have known that Eve had a curiosity about the tree, and a desire to know more about it. He supplied her lust for wanting more. She had everything she needed, and she had eternal life, but she wanted more. By wanting more the devil tricked her into giving away her immortality. He encouraged some thoughts in her head that would lead her away from God's protection by calling God a selfish liar, qualities that actually apply to the devil and not to God.

So then what happens?

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. 

Three things: appetite, sight, and a prideful desire to be wise. Where have we seen this before? The Apostle John warns about these very weaknesses:

1John2:16

 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. 

The same thing happened with the Israelites while they wandered in the wilderness. Read the book of Numbers to find how they had the perfect food, manna, but they lusted after more. The perfect food got boring. They wanted meat. So God gave it to them, and they gorged themselves on it, to the point that God sent a pestilence as a consequence to their vile and disgusting behavior. It is just as the writer of Ecclesiastes tells us: "there's nothing new under the sun".

The true wisdom that is from above is humble. God was never prideful. That is the devil. When pride rears it's ugly head in us, and we doubt God and then think we know more than He does (how utterly foolish!) that is the devil having a dialogue with us, calling God a liar, questioning us on the reliability of what God says to us.

Guard yourselves because the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.