And the serpent was more crafty than any animal of the field which Jehovah Elohim had made. And it said to the woman, Is it even so, that God has said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
The third chapter of the Bible opens with a question about something God had already said plainly. Behind the animal that asks it stands a real enemy, and Scripture keeps exposing him right through to its last book.
The Speaker Behind the Serpent
The chapter names only a creature, but the rest of Scripture names the one using it.
Notice that when the enemy attacks our first parents, the account leaves him in mysterious obscurity. Yet no believer, no serious mind, can doubt that under the form of a serpent, Satan was at work to deceive and destroy... The last book of the New Testament answers the first book of the Old Testament with striking force. It names him from first to last as "that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan" — the slanderer and the adversary.
The very strangeness of a beast speaking should have warned the woman rather than drawn her in.
This chapter introduces the serpent as more cunning than all other beasts. Satan's use of the serpent as his mouthpiece shows that this was so. The woman had probably never heard any other animal speak. When the serpent spoke to her, she should have been doubly on her guard... God has never allowed Satan to appear to mankind as he is in his own person, except in his temptation of the Lord Jesus.
Craft, Not Force
Nothing in the approach announces itself as evil. That is what "more crafty" means in practice.
Notice, the first thing introduced here is the craftiness of Satan. When Eve replied to it, it was not flagrant, open sin and wickedness. He does not say, "I am the devil come to deceive you." He points to how pleasant the thing is right now.
A planted doubt works better than a loud denial. The mind finishes the argument itself.
It opens mildly. Planting a doubt overthrows convictions better than a flat denial does. The mind is then left to draw its own conclusions... The woman's reply makes it clear. Her mind had caught the drift of his words, and her heart, sadly, had taken in the implied question about God's goodness.
The Real Target: God's Goodness
The question sounds like it is about food. It is really about whether they can trust God.
It was by craft, not by force, that man was overcome... The way the enemy attacked makes one thing clear. Faith is the root and spring of all obedience in the creature, even in innocence. Faith is also what receives the Saviour and His great salvation once man has fallen... Our first parents knew nothing of the reason for the ban. Perfect confidence in God's goodness would have assured them that it must be, and was, for their good and happiness... How much more that question held than appears on the surface! It carries his pretended concern for their enjoyment. It hints that God, if He really said this, must be an enemy of their happiness, grudging them so small a pleasure.
The Right Way to Answer
The failure began before anyone touched the fruit. It began when the question got a hearing.
The right way to meet Satan's questions and suggestions is to treat them as his, and to repel them by the word. To let them near the heart, even for a moment, is to lose the only power by which to answer them. To admit the question, "Did God actually say?" when I know that God has spoken is outright unbelief. The very fact that I admit it proves I am completely unable to meet it.
Why He Spoke to the Woman
The serpent chose which of the two to approach.
His first move was to throw doubt on the Word of God. God had revealed very little so far, but on one point He had spoken clearly and decisively. The serpent questioned that revelation. He twisted God's words as he questioned them, to make his hint of doubt more believable. What is more, he addressed himself not to the man, who was primarily responsible, but to the woman. Of the two links in the human chain she was the weaker, and the adversary struck just there.
Summary
- Craft — The enemy does not announce himself. He opens with something pleasant and a mild question.
- Doubt — A planted doubt beats a flat denial, because it leaves the mind to finish the argument against God on its own.
- Goodness — The question was never about a tree. It hinted that God's ban was not love. His goodness was the real target.
- Faith — Faith is the root and spring of all obedience, before the fall as much as after it. When trust goes, the command feels like mere restriction.
- Word — Treat the question as the enemy's. Answer it with what God said. To let "Did God actually say?" in, when you know He has spoken, is already the defeat.