“And the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived
me, and I ate.’” Genesis 3:13
In the King James translation of the Bible, the word “beguile” is used instead of “deceived”
for our Scriptural text. According
to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, #5377 beguile means to
lead astray; to delude, or seduce to greatly
deceive. This is the first time that the word is used in scripture. “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.”
You see God had given to Adam very specific instructions as to what he could
eat in the Garden of Eden. “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in
the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God
commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it
you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:15-17). God specified to Adam that He was not to eat of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil. Now let’s read on, “And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be
alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Through the rest of chapter 2, we
discover how God made woman as a helper for Adam; however, in Chapter 3 we read
about Satan’s deception, his punishment and humanities penalty for distrusting that
God did not mean what He said. When questioned
by God, Eve responded in Genesis 3:13, “And
the Lord God said to the woman, ‘what is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘the
serpent beguiled me, and I ate.’” So
once again, we see the word beguile is
used in reference to being greatly deceived.
Satan tried to “deceive” Jesus when he
tempted Him in the wilderness, “Then
Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. “And when He had fasted
forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter
came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones
become bread.’ But He answered and said, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took Him up into the holy
city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and
said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He shall
give His angels charge over you,” and, “In their
hands they
shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus said to him, ‘It is written again, “You shall not
tempt the Lord your God.” Again, the devil took Him up on
an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and
their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will
give You if You will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ Then
the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.”
The difference between Satan’s attempt to deceive Jesus and the deception he employed in the Garden of
Eden is that Jesus responded with the Word
of God. Eve and her husband did not
respond to Satan’s deception by
quoting God’s Word; instead they gave into the cravings of their bodies.
In order for us not to be deceived by Satan’s
ploys, we must first know God’s Word. Secondly, we must speak God’s Word. “Death
and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the
fruit thereof” (Proverbs 18:21).
I
encourage you today to take a stand against the enemy’s deception and speak God’s
Word. You will have the same results
Jesus did….Satan took up his weapons and fled.
Prayer—Father I thank You for opening my eyes so that I am
not deceived by the enemy and that I use the mighty weapon of Your Word against
him, in Jesus Name. Amen.
