Genesis 3:2-3 Following God's Guidance

                Eve’s response to the devil is interesting in Genesis 3:2-3.  She adds to His Word. “We may eat of the furit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die,’” she responds.  God did not say that they could not touch the fruit, but simply that they could not eat from it (I am not perfect, but I would not go anywhere near that tree.)   But by “adding a ban to touching to the one on eating,” Eve sets “herself up for transgression:  having touched the fruit, and seeing no ill effect, she may proceed to eat.”  (Alter, 11)  It is also perplexing to consider that she also removed words from what God had said.  He had told them Adam that they could “surely eat of every tree of the garden.”  (v. 2:17)  Telling them they could eat of “every” tree seems to give them so many options, but the devil is only focused on the one that has been forbidden.

            God does not place guard rails along the road of our journey with him so that we will stay hemmed in not knowing what is on the other side of the guard rails.  To continue this metaphor, the only way you will know for sure what is on the other side of the rails is to crash through them.  Now you are in danger.  Now you are possibly injured and bloody.  Even if you make it through without a scratch, there is most likely a steep ditch in which to land.  If you are unlucky, the ditch is slippery and deep leading you farther away from God than if you had stayed on the road.  God’s Word is there to keep us safe.  He knows what disobedience can and will lead to.  There are hundreds of commands in Scripture.  Seeking them and obeying them can only lead you closer to him.  There will be moments you make take your eyes off Him, check your phone for a moment and slide off the shoulder, but allow God to right the ship by placing your eyes back on Him.  The devil wants nothing less than spiritual death for us and making God’s Word say only what we want it to say is one sure way of never truly finding one’s way to God..  God is ever present and willing to lead us in the right direction.  

Works Cited

Alter, Robert, Genesis New York:  W.W. Norton and Company.  1996.  Print
The Holy Bible.  English Standard Version.  Wheaton, Ill.:  Crossway Bibles.  2007.  Print