Adding to God’s Words
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.”
In a previous Creation Moment, we talked about how the devil misquoted God’s words when he started to tempt Eve. God had made a positive promise to Adam and Eve, telling them that they could eat of any of the trees in the Garden of Eden except the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent, however, phrased this negatively, reporting that God had said, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden.”
Eve’s reply began correctly by contradicting this negativity. “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden...” There was still an error here. She should not have been engaging the devil in conversation this way. The starting point for her thinking should have been the truth of God’s word rather than looking for a way to justify God’s word. In doing the latter, she made a mistake. She added something to God’s word by reporting that they could not eat of the tree mentioned. “Neither shall you touch it,” she added. God had not forbidden them to touch this tree, so this was an extra thought on her part. It is possible that the error occurred because she did not receive the word directly; Adam was given this command before the creation of Eve. However, knowing these were God’s words, perhaps related to her by her husband, she should have paid better attention and got the words right. God has given us so much information in the Bible. That is why it behooves us to study it carefully.
Prayer: Help us to concentrate on your word, Lord – to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest it so that we may know more of your will and nature. Amen.
Ref: Calvin, J. (1554, Boot edition 1965), Commentary upon the Book of Genesis (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust), pp. 148-149. Image: Adobe Stock Images, licensed to author.
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