The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
Temptation is the presentation of a possibility that is based on a lie. Here in Genesis 3 the possibility of disobedience is presented to Eve. She and her husband Adam had been clearly commanded by the Lord God not to eat the fruit from one specific tree in the Garden of Eden, the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen 2:15-17) God had warned them that should they decide to disobey Him and eat from the tree, they would die. The serpent came one day and presented the possibility to Eve, along with the lie—“You surely will not die!” Tragically, this was just the news that Eve wanted to hear, for after a consideration of what she saw as the merits of disobedience, and the certainty of immediate pleasure in breaking trust with God, she took the fruit, ate it, and then gave some to her husband. (The text itself presents the intriguing probability that Adam himself was standing nearby, perhaps witnessing the whole interchange and failure of Eve, and said and did nothing.)
There used to be a nightclub in downtown Portland called Pinocchio’s. Its flashing neon sign promised, “Total Pleasure, with No Strings Attached!” It drew the partiers of downtown and beyond and the sailors on shore leave during the Rose Festival. As a paramedic working that district of town, I can tell you that there were definitely strings attached to a lot of what happened in there! Violence, drugs, drunkenness, lost money, betrayed friendships and frequent police responses were at least a part of what “Total Pleasure” meant—there were plenty of strings attached to the “pleasure” found inside. But the club wasn’t concerned with really delivering what it promised on its sign. The purpose of the sign wasn’t to inform people of what was available, it was to entice them to do something (seek total pleasure) with the assurance that there would be no consequence (no strings attached). It promised satisfaction through pleasing self, and assured that there would be no pesky consequences to face in the morning.
This is how temptation works today. We are tempted when we allow ourselves to imagine a world where God’s Word isn’t true, where we don’t know what we are to do and not to do, and where sin doesn’t result in death, but is actually a pathway to pleasure without consequence. Read the rest of the chapter, and you’ll see a spider’s web of attached strings. As Eve learned, and many of the intoxicated customers of Pinocchio’s learned, and I’ve learned so well—there is no such thing in the real world as sin without death.
Father, show us today the lie underlying the areas of life where we are tempted to disobey You. Build in us a desire and commitment to obedience, and the will to resist the lies of the serpent. Train us to hear the difference between his voice and the voice of Your Spirit speaking within our souls. Amen.
downtownpastor