Trails and Temptations – Adam and Eve – You and Me

No doubt Adam and Eve are the most notorious couple to ever live, but the thought came to me recently that we are not much different than they were. We are as weak and frail as they were; we need forgiveness as much as they did. 

When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they were there without the knowledge of good or evil; they did not know what evil was. In fact, God's command was that they not eat "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." (Gen. 2:17 ESV) This command was directed at Adam before Eve's creation, but Eve became aware of it as she testified to the same before the serpent in Gen. 3:3. We know what evil is, and yet we do it. 

In those earliest days in the Garden, they understood their station in life. God, their creator, was over them, and they understood they were subordinate to him. That was fine with them for a time, how long we do not know, for they were living in an earthly paradise and one without temptation, that is, until the serpent came on the scene.

They were like we are so often, content until an outside party comes along and convinces us how bad off we are and how much better things could be. How many people in this world have fallen because of an outsider’s influence? I am thinking, as I write, how drug addiction and alcoholism would be virtually nonexistent if it were not for such influencers. No one is born with a natural desire for drugs or alcohol. You are not born with a taste or longing for any of that. It takes someone on the outside to influence you, to convince you that things will be better if you indulge.

Many years ago, there was a common saying one heard from time to time, saying "it takes two to tango." How true it is. Most sin comes to us as a result of someone’s influence on us. It goes far beyond just drugs and alcohol. Every time there is an illicit affair, adultery, or an adulterous marriage, every time someone joins in a criminal enterprise with others, gang-related or not, an outsider was involved, urging the satisfaction of the temptation to the sin. 

All advertisements are an attempt by one party to influence another. That is not to say that all advertisements entice us to sin, but it is to say we are being hit constantly with enticements from outside ourselves to get us to do this or that. Satan is still active. He knows what he needs to do for his own purposes, and it generally begins with enticement.

None of that justifies our succumbing to the temptations, but human nature being what it is, the flesh being what it is, we often yield to our own desires when we are enticed by outside parties or influences. If you lived alone on a deserted island far from civilization, had no means of contact with others, your temptations to sin would be few and only related to your thoughts and attitude toward God. To be tempted within you generally have to be exposed to people and things without.

Christ warned those who entice people to sin. "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes." (Matt. 18:7 ESV) Again, in the prior verse, verse 6, he says, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." (ESV) To be the person who brings temptation to sin into the life of another is serious business, deadly business.

While the serpent in the Garden knew what he was doing, many who bring temptation to us do not realize what they are doing. Many are untaught in spiritual matters. Some think, for example, that bringing alcohol into a person's life will better that person socially, be good for them, help them belong, help them out in the business world, etc. Nevertheless, no matter the motive, sin is sin and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23).

Eve did not know what temptation was until the serpent came along. She had been living with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil without any apparent temptation to eat its fruit until the serpent arrived. We are often satisfied with our lives without being involved with sin until someone or something convinces us there is something better if only we will do this or that, contrary to what God has told us in his word. To get her to sin, the serpent had to get Eve to the point where she was dissatisfied. 

Satan tells Eve the fruit of this tree will make her like God (Gen. 3:5). As a result, she began to look at the fruit of the tree differently than she had in the past. Now it became good for food and delightful in appearance, plus the serpent says it will make her wise like God (Gen. 3:6). One suspects it was always a tree of wonder to look upon, for it was the only tree in the garden God had forbidden them to eat of or even touch. But she had not been tempted by it, not until the serpent arrived.

In 1993, a movie called "Indecent Proposal" came out here in America, a movie I did not see but one that was heavily advertised at the time and quite scandalous. It starred Robert Redford and Demi Moore, and the plot was of a couple in financial straits. They encounter a billionaire who makes a proposal to them. He offers them a million dollars for a one-night stand with the man's wife. They finally give in and do it.

I use that as an analogy to say we are like Eve. We can be tempted to do things we would not ordinarily do or even entertain the thought of doing, given the right set of circumstances. Part of the Lord's prayer that he taught his followers was "lead us not into temptation" (Matt. 6:13 ESV). How we all ought to pray that prayer. Jesus instructed the three who accompanied him into the Garden just before his arrest to “watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” (Matt. 26:41 ESV) Paul warns us, “Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” (Gal. 6:1 ESV)

God tempts no one to do evil (James 1:13), but God has the power to direct us away from temptation. God allowed Satan to try Job, try as in trial. Jesus himself was tempted by Satan, "led up by the Spirit … to be tempted by the devil." (Matt. 4:1 ESV) This was temptation to sin, but it was also a trial to see if Jesus would do it.

Jesus said Satan was seeking Peter and all of the apostles, "Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." (Luke 22:31-32 NRSV, the NRSV is accurate with this translation). Satan goes about as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

We never in this world become so strong that we cannot be tempted under the right circumstances. The temptation to sin abounds. When we think we are of a mind that we cannot fall into sin, that we do not need God's help for we are strong enough within ourselves, that is a dangerous state of mind. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Prov. 16:18 ESV)

Yes, Jesus said, "it is necessary that temptations come" (Matt. 18:7)-for our faith must be tested-but the prayer to God to "lead us not into temptation" (Matt. 6:13) has to help alleviate temptations, or why pray? Nevertheless, we will be tested for it is necessary. "The LORD tests the righteous." (Psalm 11:5 ESV) God "tests our hearts." (1 Thess. 2:4 ESV) God "tests the heart and the mind." (Jer. 11:20 ESV) Peter told those to whom he wrote in the first century to “not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you.” (1 Peter 4:12 ESV) Its purpose was to test them, and so it is.

Even if one sees the temptation of Matt. 6:13 as trial (the NRSV), thus "do not bring us to the time of trial" rather than "lead us not into temptation"; one must remember that trials, if severe enough, can tempt us to do evil. Many have given up the faith due to the trials that came into their lives. Their thinking became if God loved me, if he exists at all, he would not be allowing this in my life, so they abandoned their faith. 

Generally speaking, the difference between a trial and a temptation comes down to this: trials are allowed by God to refine or strengthen our faith (if endured), produce steadfastness, and develop within us spiritual maturity. (See James 1:2-4) They most often consist of troubles and tribulations that come into our lives from the outside. They generally involve hardship and difficulty of one kind or another.

Trials come into our lives to make us what God would have us to be. Peter said to those to whom he wrote, "Now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith … may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:6-7 NIV) "Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him." (James 1:12 ESV)

Temptations come from within ourselves. “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” (James 1:14 ESV) This is the desire for sin, as has been one of the themes of this article, the stimuli for it most often comes from those things without that we see or hear. Such was the case with Eve, and so it often is with us. 

Peter tells us "the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials" (2 Peter 2:9 ESV, "temptations" in the footnote). The passage in Peter, taken in context, refers to Lot's rescue from the evil environment he was in. Peter does not say God will keep you from all trials, but that he can rescue you from them. Prayer is always appropriate whether one is faced with either a trial or a temptation.

Trials and temptations, temptations and trials, different but often much the same. Eve wanted to be better, to better herself, be wise like God, but at the cost of disloyalty. The guilty party in every broken marriage is guilty of the same disloyalty. And, as for you and me, we are disloyal to God every time we willingly break one of his commands, the same as Eve.

The only way man has of loving God is by keeping his commandments, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments." (1 John 5:3 ESV) You can't hug God, you cannot give him a kiss, you cannot give him anything, for everything that exists is his already. Besides, spiritual beings do not need or have use for material things. The only way to show love for God is by obedience. Eve failed in this, and sadly, we too often have. 

We might say Eve just wanted to be happy. Well, the Bible does say sin is pleasurable for a season (Heb. 11:25 KJV). Eve did not realize how short the season was going to be. It was, as other versions say, "fleeting" (ESV), "short-lived" (HCSB), and "passing" (NAS), describing the pleasures of sin. She learned that the regret, pain, and sorrow, the result of her sin, lasted far longer than any pleasure she got from partaking of what was forbidden. How often have we learned the same lesson? We may be forgiven, but there is still regret, pain, and sorrow over our sins. And, of course, there is always the judgment to come if we fail to repent. 

How about Adam? The Bible says he was not deceived into sinning as Eve was (2 Cor. 11:3, 1 Tim. 2:14). Eve believed the serpent. Adam did not, but his desire to please his wife overrode his love for God and his common sense. I believe many people in the world could be convinced of the truth, believe and obey it, but family or loved ones get in the way. Family ought to be a blessing, but it is not always so. Nevertheless, while family may play some role in our disbelief and disobedience, we are still individually accountable for the decisions we make. 

The Bible speaks to us all as individuals. No family group will be saved based on their relationship to one another; no church (congregation) will be saved as a collective group; and no husband and wife as a couple, because they are husband and wife. "Wife, how do you know whether you will save your husband? Husband, how do you know whether you will save your wife?" (1 Cor. 7:16 ESV) "So then each of us will give an account of himself to God." (Rom. 14:12 ESV) 

Adam loved his wife more than he loved God. Jesus said many hundreds of years later, "whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." (Matt.10:37 ESV, see also Luke 14:26) Who am I to say I would have done better than Adam had I been in his shoes? I am not defending him, but I am saying I can understand. God himself had said it was not good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18). Whatever Eve's fate was to be, he wanted to be with her. It is wonderful for a man to love his wife, but it is not wonderful to follow her into sin or put her above God in one's affections. The same holds true with a wife and her husband. 

Adam did not have to abandon his wife because of her sin. He could have done as Moses did for the children of Israel when they sinned and God was of a mind to destroy them; he intervened with God (Exod. 32:9-14, 30-35). Why didn't Adam do this? We cannot know but only speculate, which would profit nothing. We can know Adam was weak through the flesh. That brings us back to you and me. Are we not also weak through the flesh? 

We are like Adam; we know what God has told us; the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Adam knew that; God had told him; he ate of the forbidden fruit anyway. Don't tell me you never sinned knowingly. If you do, I will not believe you. You knew sin leads to death, but you did it anyway, just like Adam. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8 ESV) Your sins were not all sins of ignorance, committed because you did not know you were committing a sin. "None is righteous, no, not one." (Rom. 3:10 ESV) 

We sin because at the time we think it is worthwhile, yes, foolish, but true. I think of Peter when he denied Christ. Why did he do it? Because he feared he too would be arrested like Jesus and suffer. He feared an unknown fate at the hands of unfriendly men. No good could come of that, of being arrested. When in the book of Galatians he withdrew and refused to eat with the Gentiles again he did so out of fear, the fear of what his fellow Jews would think and the negative consequences he might suffer as a result.

The point is that sin at the time can seem good, the best route to pursue, has benefits, but it is a very shortsighted view of things. I don't know what Adam and Eve thought. Did they think God had lied to them when he said they would die if they ate of the forbidden fruit? Or, did they think that death would be so far down the road that it would not matter for the here and now? Yes, they died spiritually when they sinned; I realize that. The point I am making, though, is that the day of accountability always comes. The clock may seem to be ticking slowly, but ticking it is, and like the tortoise in the fairy tale, it will eventually reach its destination, the end. This we must keep in mind. We cannot outrun the day of accountability.

We say God walked with them in the garden and spoke to them directly; if he did that with us, we would not sin. Really? Point 1: God's walking with them in the garden was not like you walking with me down the street, physically side by side. God is a spirit; Adam and Eve were flesh and blood. No man has ever seen God and lived (Exod. 33:20, John 1:18). If God walked in the garden in any kind of a literal sense, it was as a theophany.

An example would be God appearing to Moses in the burning bush. In such cases, God takes on an appearance that man can see and yet live, but it is not God's full essence. I guess one could say God takes on a disguise, not to deceive, but to allow man to be in his presence for a time and yet live. 

God walks with the Christian when the Christian brother or sister is walking in the light of God's word. (1 John 1) "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105 ESV) God walks with his people today, "For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, 'I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'" (2 Cor. 6:16 ESV) 

Point 2: Then we may be inclined to think that, because God spoke directly to them, if he did that with us, we would be faithful if we could just hear his voice. Well, that did not work at Sinai with the children of Israel. It didn't keep Moses sin-free. It didn't keep Abraham from lying about his wife. 

Besides, God speaks directly to us today through his word. You say that is different? If one says that it is different, it is not different with God. Remember the account of the rich man and Lazarus when the rich man was pleading for one to be sent back from the dead to his brothers to warn them to turn from their evil ways? Hear Abraham's reply, "They have Abraham and the Prophets; let them hear them." (Luke 16:29 ESV) Of course, Abraham and the Prophets had been dead for an untold number of years. They were to be heard from the writings they left, writings of the Holy Spirit. 

So, who were Adam and Eve? They were your neighbor. They were even closer. They were you and me. Look in the mirror.

Jesus did not come into the world just for Adam and Eve's sake. We all need Jesus, the salvation of our souls. We are all sinners. God knew what was going to come to pass with man's creation before creating man; thus, grace was provided "in Christ Jesus before the ages began." (2 Tim. 1:9 ESV) "He chose us in him before the foundation of the world." (Eph. 1:4 ESV)

I don't know what will become of Adam and Eve in the judgment. I don't know whether they repented and God forgave them, but one can hope so, and it certainly seems reasonable to think they did. However, that is irrelevant for you and me. What will God do with us, for we have been much like Adam and Eve? Have we repented? Are we trying to walk with God in light of his word? That is the question that is the really important one.

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