Questioning God

Articles

Ross Triplett
01/16/22 - Articles

After God had commanded the man not to eat “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:17), it wasn’t long until an entity, referred to as the serpent, was quick upon the scene. The book of Revelation identifies this entity as the Devil, “And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan” (Revelation 20:2).

As Satan comes upon the scene, his attention is drawn to Eve. Among the Devil’s arsenal is the ability to get individuals to question God. Satan begins the dialog with a question, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?” To which, “the woman said unto the serpent, ‘Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die,” to which “the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:1-5).

Once Satan put the question and the doubt into the mind of the woman, he used his now age-old devices to deceive her. We are told in the writings of John, “all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).

As we unfold the events of that dreadful day, we see that Satan used the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and vainglory of life to draw the woman away from God and into captivity, for the scriptures reveal, “Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness” (Romans 6:16). These three weapons were extremely successful. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food:” the lust of the flesh, something to gratify the physical; “and that it was a delight to the eyes” (Gen. 3:6). The lust of the eyes, as Solomon affirmed, “is not satisfied with seeing” (Ecclesiastes 1:8), and “eyes of man are never satisfied” (Proverbs 27:20); “and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise” (Ibid.), appealing to the vain glory of life, “she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat.”

Satan uses the same weapons today! But we need not be “ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11). Our God has equipped us through his word with all the weapons we need to overcome the evil one. Let us not, “as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness” have our minds “corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). There are men who are “deceitful workers, fashioning themselves into apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light. It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works” (11:13-15).

What shall a man do? “Prove the spirits whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1), that you might “keep the commandment, without spot, without reproach, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 6:14). Ross Triplett, Sr.