The Devil and Doubt
Did God Really Say…? – Part 2

Scripture Reading:  Genesis 3:1-5

Key Verse: Genesis 3:1

    Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The scripture for yesterday and today helps us to see the first of the four schemes that we will be studying this month.  The devil came to Eve in the garden that God had prepared for His creation and tempted her to doubt God’s wisdom.  The devil planted the thought in her mind.  The evil one’s job is to tempt us to question God’s Word—God’s instructions for the best life possible in this world.

            “Did God really say…” is the phrase the evil one loves to repeat.  He basically has said that same phrase millions of times over the generations of mankind.  It has two underlying meanings.  First, the evil one is trying to get us to question whether God really said what He said.  In other words, the devil plants the idea in our minds that maybe we did not understand God correctly.  This scheme lowers our resistance to the evil temptation before us.  Since temptation deals with that which is appealing to the eye, we want to believe that maybe we didn’t hear God or understand God correctly.

            The second underlying meaning of this phrase, “Did God really say…,” is: Did God really mean it?  The devil offered Eve his own evil interpretations: “Your eyes will be open and you will be like God.”  We must fight hard not to fall to this scheme.  It is easy to interpret God’s Word in ways to satisfy what our “flesh” cries out for.

Father, your Word is true.  Help me keep it close to my heart and mind today.  Keep me strong in the battle, I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.