What are some of the most powerful weapons in the world today? You might picture aircraft carriers, missiles, or nuclear submarines. But I think one of the most common and powerful weapons is misinformation. This is nothing new. Deception goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden.

In Genesis 3, we are introduced to the serpent. We are told two things right away: he is crafty, and he was created by God (v. 1). Later Scriptures make clear that this serpent is Satan (Rom. 16:20; Rev. 12:9). The serpent did not overpower Adam and Eve by force. Instead, he raised questions about God, “Did God really say... ” (v. 1)? The serpent began by misconstruing God’s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (v. 1). He twisted God’s prohibition to sound more restrictive than it was.

Once the serpent had provoked the woman, his speech became more explicit and hostile. “You will not certainly die” is an outright denial of God’s word (v. 4). He goes on to question God’s motives. He accused God of giving the prohibition to keep Adam and Eve from reaching their full potential (v. 5). The serpent twisted the purpose of the idyllic garden in which God had placed the human pair and reframed it as a prison. In a sense, the serpent was like a conspiracy theorist: “Yes, things may look good on the outside, but if you really knew what was going on, you’d be outraged! God is not who you think He is.”

Scripture often warns us not to be deceived (1 John 3:7; 2 Cor. 11:3). God calls us to exercise discernment and not to get caught up in the lies of the evil one. Adam and Eve’s sin had profound consequences, but, thankfully, that is not the end of the story.

Go Deeper

What do we learn about the serpent’s methods in Genesis chapter 3? How does this help us guard against Satan’s lies today?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.