Can we learn from the Deception of Eve?

Can we learn from the Deception of Eve?

When God asked Adam and Eve why they ate the forbidden fruit, Eve said the serpent “deceived” her and she ate. If deception caused sin, suffering and death for man, can we not learn from this how it could happen again?

The Commandment:
In the Old Testament, in Genesis 2:16-17, the Lord God commanded man saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

In the New Testament, Jesus tells us in Mt 22:37;39, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

In John 14:34, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another”

The Deception:
In the Old Testament, in Genesis 3:4-5, we have the serpent [Satan] saying to the woman, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Today Satan is saying the same thing, “you will not die”… enjoy the things of this world, they are good. Just take care of yourself and your family. You don’t need to help your neighbor, who is hurting or poor, the government will do that.

The Temptation:
In Genesis 3:6, we consider the appeal, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.”

Today the things of the world look good – money, power, sex, material things, etc. We choose to take care of ourselves first and not others. Jesus has told Nancy, “When you are in darkness, you do not see the Light.”

Have we taken our eyes off God and His Words? Are we looking upon the forbidden fruits of this world and considering their appeal? Do we find they are “good”, they are “a delight to the eye”, they are “to be desired”? Do we put them before God? Are we becoming gods unto ourselves? Have we come to be all knowing and depend on science and our own capability to provide security for ourselves in good jobs, careers, health insurance, material things, etc. and depend on self rather than God. Satan is telling us with all these “fruits”, we have no need for God… We are now independent from God. Is this not what Satan did to deceive Adam and Eve?

Satan has not changed his ways since Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis. He is still deceiving us. He once said to Nancy, “I have the whole world deceived.” Are his words to Adam and Eve still echoing all over this world, “You will be like God.”?

The Choice:
In Luke 16:13 we are told that we can not serve two masters. We are choosing either to be obedient and serve God or be disobedient and serve Satan. Luke tells us, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” [mammon: worldly possessions, profit, riches, wealth, etc.]

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells us our neighbor is the one beaten up and wounded on the side of the road. The priest and the Levite passed him by on the way to worship. Do we pass by the wounded today, the poor, the sick, the mother raising a family alone, the abused child, the abused wife, the teenager in trouble, the old person alone? The devil deceives us into believing that we really don’t help Jesus when we help the least of his children.

Therefore, we choose to have the things of the world and we choose to put them in front of God. God gets less time, less love and is in second place. Jesus has said to Nancy,uk replica rolex lady datejust “My children and leaders of this Country choose to live apart from Me. Then you will live in the darkness you have chosen. I will not over step your free will. Suffer you will, little children.”

We are deceived to think we can run from the cross without running from Jesus. But He is the cross. So when we run from the cross, there is greater suffering ahead, either in this life or later in Purgatory or the eternal fires of damnation.