Human nature on display

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TODAY’S SPECIAL:  Genesis 3:1-15

TO CHEW ON: “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” Genesis 3:8

As I read the account of Adam and Eve’s fall into sin, I see things that are surprisingly (or, maybe not surprisingly) familiar. Even before Eve yielded to the temptation to eat that fruit, some of these things were present:

• A tendency to exaggerate or embellish

Eve’s report to the serpent of what God had said about the tree: “‘You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” wasn’t exactly what God had said. He really said, simply, “‘You shall not eat…’” Genesis 3:3, cf. Genesis 2:17 (emphasis added).

• Intellectually gullible

Eve never even questioned the serpent’s claims but took them at face value - Genesis 3:4-6.

• Easily swayed to disbelieve what God had said.

For Eve this included considering and believing the serpent’s suggestion that God didn’t have their best interests at heart but was really keeping the best back from them - Genesis 3:4-6.

• Undue trust in appearance.

Eve was easily taken in by the fruit’s appearance when she looked at it closely and saw that it looked delicious, was beautiful and, according to the serpent, had great benefits - Genesis 3:6.

• Secrecy

After they sinned, both Adam and Eve gave in the overwhelming compulsion to hide from God - Genesis 3:8.

• Blame-shifting

Both refused to take responsibility for their action. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent - Genesis 3:12,13.

Seeing the first four qualities in Eve even before the fall and the latter two in both Adam and Eve immediately after, leads me to believe these tendencies are part of our human nature. We all have them. They strut their stuff especially when we’re under the pressure of temptation. So let’s be on guard against ourselves and not taken in by the serpent's empty accusations against God, false claims, and half-truth promises.


PRAYER: Dear Father God, help me to know myself—to recognize my human tendencies and weaknesses that would draw me away from You. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.