S162P1 – Wicked tactics: the lie in the middle

Gen. 3:4-5

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Those who are good at lying have tactics.  They do not simply speak what is untrue and hope that it is believed.  Deception comes by way of a method.  Like any strategy used to overcome an adversary, methods of deception are tested and then refined to make them reliable.  One of the devil’s methods is a tactic that many people use in daily life but which might go unnoticed pretty easily.  Some of the most effective lies are almost true except for one or two details.  They are couched in that which is correct, and it takes a discerning listener to spot the deception.  This is a strategy we see first used in the garden of Eden when the devil told Eve that eating from that tree would do her no harm.

The devil said some things here which are totally true.  Once Eve and Adam ate from the fruit of that tree, their eyes most certainly were opened.  That is why they noticed they were nude and decided to cover themselves.  They also came to a knowledge of what good and evil are.  It took them being wicked to know wickedness, but gaining this knowledge did not make them godlike.  It gave them knowledge God had which He did not want us to know.  And yes, they did surely die after eating from this tree, and death entered the world in that moment for all.  The devil made a statement which was the opposite of what God told Eve, and that was the lie.  Then, he couched the lie in some truth to disguise it and make the deadly thing seem appealing.

Eve could have spotted this deception had she used some wisdom and a little deductive reasoning.  Hearing the devil make a statement contrary to God’s [2:17], believing his statement would mean that she believed God had lied.  If that were the case, she would not want to be like God.  If she believed the devil, she should not have wanted to eat the fruit that would make her like a deceptive God.  If she believed God, she should not have wanted to eat the fruit that would bring her death.  It was no good either way.  Falling for the lie showed Eve, Adam and us the truths of this statement that we were better off not knowing.  Father, give us wisdom to spot the little lies buried in the truth and to keep from being deceived by the devil and the world.