“I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”
2 Corinthians 11:1
God is a jealous God, he will not tolerate anyone who tries to lead you astray, away from His presence, away from his teaching and a Spirit that is not in alliance with the good Will of God, is not from God. A spirit that tells you to trust someone else other than God or that we do not need Gods, help is not from God. This is not faith. A gospel that does not put Jesus as the answer to all our problems and a voice that undervalues the power of the Holy Spirit should not be tolerated.
Understanding starts in the mind, but wisdom is found in the heart. Wisdom is a gift from God. This is what I learned from Eve.
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of You.
Daniel 2:20
Who is wise and who has understanding? The one who has The Lord in their presence and his teachings in their minds. The one who The Lord reveals his thoughts to and who accepts his instruction.
These words quoted above were from the prophet Daniel who asked the Lord for insight or wisdom, it was given to him for the purpose of interpreting dreams and he recognised Wisdom and understood the purpose for which it was given. “you have given me wisdom and have now made known to me what we asked of you.”
“Daniel answered in the presence of King Nebuchadnezzar, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.”
Daniel 2:27
These are the ancient words of wise king Solomon, son of David, a man who asked God for wisdom so that he may lead Gods people and fulfil the purposes of the God, who is he was serving.
The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behaviour, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young—
let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:1
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, of wisdom, and of understanding.
When we come to know and understand that God is the Creator of all things; in control of all things, of life and death, and of what happens on Earth and in Heaven. When we understand that God is and the only one that is good and therefore able to judge. When we realise that God has the power to save or condemn a soul, because all ‘souls belong to God’, then we stand in reverent fear, because we understand and recognise authority and power and we are humbled in His presence.
It’s better to face God who is able to save us from death, and from unrighteousness through repentance, and ask Him to restore what we have destroyed than to try and fix things ourselves and mess it up even more than we can imagine.
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
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.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
Genesis 3
“Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” Adam and Eve were blameless they had nothing to hide from God, they felt no shame. They were naked and yet they had everything they needed in the garden. They feared no enemy, and the only one they were accountable to was God. Right there in the garden of Eden, of peace, of order things went wrong and “they knew that they were naked.“
When we read the story of Adam and Eve we already have knowledge of the following:
1. The serpent is cunning, he twisted the words of God which made Eve doubt, “ did God really say?…” are we not like Eve? How many times do we doubt the word of God? When Gods says, I will give you everything you need and if I don’t give it to you its because you don’t need it and its not good for you. “You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons. You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too.” (1Cor 10:20) The truth is we can’t see the Truth unless its revealed by God, we can never be like God and will always be under His authority. Eating forbidden fruit, will not open your eyes, its drinking from the cup of demons.
2.Satan insults Gods character by insinuating God is withholding blessings from Eve. “God knows your eyes will be opened….” Satan has given Eve nothing and God has given them everything, yet she still considered his words credible… are we not like Eve? Why do we listen to Satan who has no credibility and adds more confusion than clarity? Why is it so tempting to want to be like God, knowing good from evil? When we already have everything we need and Gods word for clarity? Like Eve we still want to be in control of our hearts and minds, because we think that if we are, we would always make the right decisions, save asking God. If we don’t need God, who will tell us when are actually evil but believe we are good? “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. (Jer 17:9) Every word that comes from the mouth of Satan is a lie. We still don’t recognise evil when he stands in front of us. The truth is without the Holy Spirit of God, we cannot decern evil from good.
3. Eve made the decision to eat from the fruit, based on what she saw and then she gave it to her husband. Are we not like Eve? We make decisions based on what we perceive or see in the world and then we justify ourselves with what we think are good reasons/evidence without consulting God. We even go as far as convincing others, they don’t need to ask God either, take my advice, I went against Gods word and nothing happened to me… We know that disobedience has consequences even though we can justify ourselves with many “good” reasons, I dare say, we can even go as far as blaming God for putting the tree there in the first place but we have to accept accountability for what we did wrong. God is merciful and faithful, but he is also a good God that is just and above all sovereign. If He can’t put things right no-one else can. When we hide from our wrong-doing we make things worst because its dishonest, we know we have done wrong but we think God doesn’t see it. If we ignore our wrongdoing against God, we start a relationship with secrets and lies. If there is no accountability for the things we do wrong, then we become like that, great liars and keepers of secrets. Repentance is the only thing we can rely on, because it leads to restoration.
A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not respond to rebukes.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 13:1, 1:7
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 3
Eve was deceived and she ate from the fruit that God commanded her not to eat. In return she deceived Adam who also took from the fruit and ate. No one is innocent except God in this scenario. The snake deceived Eve and betrayed God, Eve betrayed God by being disobedient and deceived Adam and Adam betrayed God by being disobedient to God instruction given to him. Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened, not because they ate the fruit, but because God allowed them to see what they did wrong. What Eve desired was to be like God, knowing good from evil, but when her eyes were opened she discovered she had done a evil thing. When their eyes were opened they felt naked and ashamed, when we betray God and our eyes are opened we realise how vulnerable we really are without God.
Eve desired wisdom, but wisdom without purpose is not wisdom. Knowledge that does not lead people to God but away from God word and his presence is not very wise at all. A false prophets advice leads to death, for they teach you to follow their false words instead of Gods and they teach you that you do not need Gods help for making important decisions. They teach you that feelings of shame is acceptable if you deal with it yourself. Without the “thoughts” of God, the Holy Spirit we can lean on our “own understanding”. Our minds justify our actions and even accuse and betray God. Without help, we are unfaithful and out of control. Who will rescue us from our sinful nature?
But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting.
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:14
Satan uses every opportunity to corrupt Gods commands in order to tempt us, he even temped Jesus in the wilderness, but Jesus has no evil desires in him and cannot be tempted by evil. He is the Word, the Truth, he is incorruptible. We however must receive the truth from Him, therefore we will never be “like God, knowing good from evil”. Faith is trusting in Jesus, not in ourselves. Jesus lays the example for us, he said, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”. God’s will is still above any desire we may have, however good we may think it is or justify it.
We are all accountable to God only for our own actions despite the temptations that comes along the way. If we want to be right with God we have make it right with Him and let God deal Adam and the serpent in the way that only a true Judge can. Understanding is knowledge of what is right and wrong, it is the word of God and the teaching of the Holy Spirit.
Wisdom is the gift of God, it’s the ability to hear the thoughts of God for the purpose of edifying yourself and others. “But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, so that you may know the thoughts of your heart.”
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is understanding that His ways are higher is mine. That His Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
It is to put everything in His hands, even our thoughts, our mistakes, any control so that our freedom comes from knowing He is in control of everything, even our mistakes. This is faith and “without faith you cannot please God.” A Good Father will look after his children. He will discipline us even when we are disobedient, and teach us all his righteous ways. His Word is our guide and His helper will give us the understanding we need. In the same way, we can’t give ourselves fruit, fruit comes from the right seeds and the healing water of God.
I am Eve.
Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right.
My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness.
All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse.
To the discerning all of them are right; they are upright to those who have found knowledge.
Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold,
for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.
Proverbs 8:6