Session 3: Week 1 

3 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. ³ But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

There are three major players here in the beginning of Genesis 3. The serpent, the Lord God and the woman. There’s also an unseen force at work that is using the serpent – more about that in a moment.

Since our study is aimed at developing a greater intimacy with God let’s review what we learned in Session 2: Week 2.

אֱלֹהִים  יְהוָה  The Lord God is the English translation for the Hebrew Yehovah Elohim

יְהוָה (the letters Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay) is God’s holy and personal name; the one He revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3.

The Lord God is the Creator of all.  He is El Elyon (God Most High); El Shaddai (All Sufficient God); and Adonai (Master). He is all, knowing, all wise, all pure, love, just, good, righteous and holy.

As we completed Session 2 I encouraged you to read A.W. Tozer’s Knowledge of the Holy.  Did anyone read it and what effect did it have on your relationship with God?

Here’s the link as a reminder: http://www.ntcg-aylesbury.org.uk/books/knowledge_of_the_holy.pdf

The second character in this chapter is the serpent.  The Hebrew word translated as serpent is Nakhash,

נָּחָשׁ

Nakhash refers to a spell or an enchantment. This creature is not the devil, persay, or Lucifer (a made up name that is nowhere in Scripture) as so many people assume and teach. A power came over one of God’s creation and the enemy (demonic forces) used the snake to tempt Eve in order to bring about mankind’s destruction. Our understanding of this can help us overcome temptations in our own lives, as we’ll see moving through the story.

Just to give you a little clarity:  Satan is actually a title given to adversarial demonic entities that harass people. Remember that the term Elohim refers to spirit beings in heavenly places.  I believe some of those beings rebelled against God and though they’re still subservient to God their aim to to usurp God’s authority and gain mastery over and the worship of mankind.

OK, back to Nakhash. Some say that the noun Nakhash comes from the sound that a hissing snake makes. The verb means to conduct divination or read an omen, which were common practices in ancient times and sadly, still are in the Church even though the Bible condemns such actions. (Leviticus 19:26, Deuteronomy 18:10, 2Kings 17:17 and 2Kings 21:6)

In what ways do we see people in the Church practicing divination or reading omens?

How does this cause the enemy to gain mastery over them and steal their worship away from God?

Observing signs is like practicing divination? That’s a new thought to me.  I remember a season in my life when I looked to signs to follow what I thought was God’s will.  The path I was led down eventually opened a door of incredible temptation and ultimately into blatant sin.

Do you ever look to “signs” to discern God’s will and what can you learn from this regarding that?

The third character in Genesis 3 is the woman. She’s the one God made by taking a rib from Adam.  She was created as a helper to man. Man and woman were created in God’s image and blessed. God intended them to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky and every creature that crawls on the earth. (Gen. 1:27-28)

The nachash was subtle/cunning… עָרוּם

This is an important clue for us that will help us identify how evil powers come against and tempt us.

What are some ways you’ve experienced the subtlety and cunning of the enemy in your own life?

The Nakhash then addressed the woman and challenged God’s instruction, showing us one of the key components of the strategy of the enemy’s temptations. “Did God really say?”

We have an adversary that wants to usurp God’s authority in our lives. He wants to rule over us as our god and King. His first order of attack is against women. He wants to influence our decisions and actions. He succeeds when we don’t stand on the authority of God’s Word and we fall into the temptation, for which there is always grave consequences.

This is also the reason that it’s very important for men to know the Word of God with clarity and accuracy and help their wives and sisters in the Lord to do the same. This helps everyone stand against temptation.

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”

Here we see the woman talking to the serpent regarding what God said. That’s the first wrong move that she made. We’re not to try to talk or reason our way out of temptation. What did Yeshua do when faced with temptation as we read about in Matthew 4? He spoke the Word of God! Eve did something very different. She said something that God never said. Maybe Adam was the one who told her to not even touch the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. In his good intentions he might have been setting up a boundary to protect her and to keep her from sinning, but maybe that very boundary was something that caused her to fail the test.

Could it be that her succumbing to the temptation was a result that she was relying on what someone else had told her regarding what God had said, vs. hearing from God directly and speaking His Word in the face of temptation?

That’s very reminiscent of religion today. In Judaism the rabbis are the ones who read the word and then interpret it for the people, setting up multiple rules and regulations to attempt to keep the people from sinning against God. But does it work?  Hardly! This happens in the Body of Messiah as well. We all need to be students of the Word of God and be able to speak it out loud, using the Word like the Sword of the Spirit that it is. We can’t rely on what others tell us God has said. We must have a personal knowledge of God and His Word by having a personal relationship with Him. The real protection against temptation and sin comes out of our desire to obey God because we know Him, love Him and fear (respect/honor/revere) Him. In temptation we must speak the Word of God. That’s the only way we’ll gain victory over demonic powers that may come against us.

This is the reason there’s a battle raging against people’s study of the Word of God and their spending time with God in prayer.

What does this teach you about the importance of daily Bible study and prayer for the purpose of developing a personal relationship with God in your own life?

How can you help other people understand the importance of cultivating a relationship with God through the study of His Word and in prayer?

Let’s continue on in Genesis 3:4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Here we see why we can’t enter into a conversation or reasoning match with the enemy. He will always lie to us in order to trick us to do his will. In many ways he’s smarter than us (more cunning and subtle) and the only way for us to really have the victory is by using God’s Word against Him. If Yeshua had to do that how can we think that we’ll have victory any other way. It is written!! (See Matthew 4:1-11)

What does it mean to know good and evil?

Why do you think that by eating of the tree man would die?

Your homework:  Think about a way that you’re being tempted right now. Ask God to give you a verse of Scripture that you can use by speaking it out loud in the face of temptation.

.

Scripture Verses About Temptation

There is no Lucifer (Now You See TV)

Please be careful to not be enticed to spend more time thinking about the enemy and dark forces rather than setting your mind on God, which brings perfect peace. Isaiah 26:3 I only put this link up as I promised some of you I would. Use caution and discernment.