By Jim Schneider, Executive Director
VCY America
After God created man and woman, He gave a direct, specific instruction: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)
Adam and Eve had great freedom to eat from all over the garden, except from one particular tree. Satan wasted no time and went to work: “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Geneses 3:1) The question caused Eve to rationalize. She told the serpent of the freedom they had to eat from all the trees of the garden, except this one. If she ate of this tree she would die.
The serpent then brought doubt and denial to God’s command by telling Eve, “Ye shall not surely die:” (Genesis 3:4b) This is when the tempter gained an inroad into Eve as she succumbed to this temptation. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” (Genesis 3:6)
Eve was deceived, but Adam knowingly ate. Spiritual death came upon both of them at this time. Their relationship with God was estranged and would no longer be the same. They became afraid and tried to hide from God. But nothing can be hidden from God. He is both all-knowing and present everywhere. That was true then; it is true now. Blood of an animal was shed to provide coats of skin for them. They were cast out of the garden and several additional consequences came as a result of their transgression.
Many will look back at them accusingly and wonder how they could they ever do this? How could they give up all the beauty and lushness of their perfect environment for a piece of fruit from a forbidden tree? Yet, many today fall prey to this same deception and are overtaken by, “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.” (I John 2:16)
Just as he did in the garden, Satan today uses lies, deception, doubt and denial of God’s Word. He continues to put the question in the minds of many, “Yea, hath God said?” And multitudes are falling for these antics. Lest we come away with “the devil made me do it” attitude, James reminds us, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” (James 1:14)
So often man tries to justify sin by rationalizing it in many ways. We deceive ourselves thinking, “God wants me to be happy. And, what makes me happy is (you fill in the blank.)” Many will directly disobey His Word to pursue a path of pleasure, prestige or advancement in this present life only to later realize the forbidden fruit has been eaten.
It is alarming that many spiritual leaders masquerading as pastors are taking whole congregations down the path of eating from the forbidden tree. They question, “Yea, hath God said?” No longer is the authority of God’s Word declared from their pulpits. Instead, the rationalizing begins from those who say “it’s not practical or expected that we should follow bronze-age writings.” Or, “this was written for a time that no longer applies to us today.” Or, “this is just allegory that we can learn lessons from, but should not be taken literally.” On and on the rationalizing goes as the lies, deception, doubt and denial spread like the roots of a thistle.
It is imperative that we get back to the sound proclamation of the Word of God! Paul gave both direction and reason to Timothy as to why this is important. “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (II Timothy 4:2-4) Sadly we live in a time when many reject the truth of God’s Word and just want their ears to be tickled. Evidence of this can be observed throughout our society and in many churches today.
The deceitfulness of Satan is as active as ever, and we must stay vigilant! Paul warned the Corinthians, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” (II Corinthians 11:13-14)
So, what should we do in such an evil time? Pray for your pastor that he would stay true to the Word. Encourage him to preach and proclaim it as written without softening or watering down the message. Stay faithful in attendance in a sound Bible-believing church. Further, get in the Word of God yourself on a daily basis. When we know and live by the truth we will not be persuaded or compromised to follow error. It is imperative that we not question, “Yea, hath God said?” But, rather with boldness we proclaim, “Thus saith the Lord!”
