“Who Told You?”
By: Millie Harris, Woodbridge, VA
Who told you? What is it that you have done? With these inquiries in the third chapter of Genesis, God initiates a conversation with Eve. What terrifying questions to answer from her maker! However, Eve is not alone in her responsibility to answer these queries. Each of us will answer God’s interrogation if we fail to obey His commandments to us (Ecclesiastes 12:14) and do not cast ourselves at the feet of His son and rely on the cleansing power of his blood. How could Eve answer God? She could not, and neither can I.
It is easy to study and read Eve’s story and to distance ourselves from the reality of her situation. However, is Eve really that different from each of us? We have the blessing of the Holy Spirit and the understanding and knowledge He has poured out for us in scripture, but if we do not ponder the characters of the past and examine our hearts (II Corinthians 13:5), the warnings and examples are for naught. Eve stood without excuse before God, as do I. She tried to place the blame on the serpent, but, in reality, the blame fell squarely on her shoulders.
Satan knew how to tempt Eve, and he knows how to tempt me. Ironically, he did not lie when he told Eve that she would have knowledge if she ate from the tree. When Christ was tempted, Satan used scripture and conformed it for his own use (Matthew 4:6). Satan can also use “truth” to lead me into his snare. Much of what the world tells me has seeds of truth embedded in deceit. If I am not vigilant in the study of God’s word, and honest with myself, I stand in danger of suffering Eve’s fate.
It seems striking to me that the serpent did not challenge Eve’s belief in God. He challenged her trust in God and the words He had spoken to her. Hebrews 11:1-3 tells us that faith is a conviction of things not seen. Eve had not seen death, but God warned her about it before her sin. God had given Eve everything she needed for her comfort and had given her no cause to disbelieve Him. So, why was Satan successful? Eve gave him opportunity! (Eph 4:27). Satan tells us, just as he told Eve, that real life is not about being in fellowship with God. Rather, real life is being in control (Gen. 3: 4,5). If I gather no other lesson from Eve’s story, I must recognize that she wrecked her life with her transgression. As a result of her lapse in faith, Eve was cast from God’s presence, suffered pain in childbirth, and saw her son Cain kill his brother Abel. What a tragedy for the first mother! How I make a mess of my own life when I believe myself to be in control.
Thus, God’s questions to Eve should give me pause to think of my own fate before the great I AM. If I fail to obey and live in faith that Christ’s blood will cover my sins, I will answer the same questions before His face one day. What possible answer can I give? What excuse will I utter? Who told me? The “experts” in the media? My family? My coworkers? My friends? What is it that I have done? Depended upon my worldly wisdom? Listened to the voices that surround me? God forbid!