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Chapter 28—The First Great Deception
With the earliest history of man, Satan began his efforts to de-
ceive our race. He who had incited rebellion in Heaven desired to
bring the whole creation to unite with him in his warfare against
the government of God. His envy and jealousy were excited as he
looked upon the beautiful home prepared for the happy, holy pair,
and he immediately laid his plans to cause their fall. Had he revealed
himself in his real character, he would have been repulsed at once,
for Adam and Eve had been warned against this dangerous foe; but
he worked in the dark, concealing his purpose, that he might more
effectually accomplish his object.
Employing as his medium the serpent, then a creature of fasci-
nating appearance, he addressed himself to Eve, “Hath God said,
Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” [
Genesis 3:1
.] Had
Eve refrained from entering into argument with the tempter, she
would have been safe; but she ventured to parley with him, and fell
a victim to his wiles. It is thus that many are still overcome. They
doubt and argue concerning the requirements of God, and instead of
obeying the divine commands, they accept human theories, which
but disguise the devices of Satan.
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“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. 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.” [
Genesis 3:2-5
.] Eve yielded to temptation, and through
her influence Adam also was deceived. They accepted the words of
the serpent, that God did not mean what he said; they distrusted their
Creator, and imagined that he was restricting their liberty, and that
they might obtain great light and freedom by transgressing his law.
But what did Adam, after his sin, find to be the meaning of the
words, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”?
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