Okay, so the thing that really stuck out to me here was how Satan brought sin into the world by causing Eve to DOUBT the words of God.
If we don't know His word, we can't stand firm on it when tempted. There won't be a sound foundation there.
I want to know God's words well enough to use them to rebuke the devil and his lies- as Jesus does in our day two reading (where He is being tempted in the desert) in Matthew 4.
It's amazing how being a mother has changed me. In the story of the Magi, when Herod ordered all of the boys 2 and under to be killed - I read these passages over and over again, seeking God's comfort in my thumping heart. This fury, this pure green envy, never hit so close to home before. Suddenly I can imagine the sorrow of those mothers, the fear of Mary, and perhaps worse - the GUILT. Every baby under 2 killed so that your son may live? What a peace that God must have brought to her over this, and only He could have.
Interesting thoughts Laura, especially the part about guilt. That's something I never thought of.
I love the first few chapters of Genesis. I think another interesting point about Satan's temptation of Eve is that along with causing her to doubt God, he is also causing her to doubt Adam. As the story is told, God tells Adam in 2:16 that he must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. To our knowledge, he doesn't repeat the instructions to Eve; He trusts Adam to do so. Of course, God may have repeated them to Eve, we don't know. But I think it reflects on doubts men and women have in marriage - does he really mean that? did she really say that? - in Satan attacking Eve's trust of her husband.
Interesting thought Charlotte about Satan attacking Eve's trust of her husband. I wonder what kind of thoughts she had toward Adam in that moment. I would even go further to say, why wasn't Adam there protecting eve from the lies of the serpent?...reminding her of the words that God spoke. What was Adam thinking in those moments??... I agree, this passage does reveal the many great challenges of marriage and true commitment to God and each other. Especially the goal that Satan and his hosts have to confuse and distort Gods plans for us. It wasn't until recently that I felt the weight of Adams great sin in this passage, not so much the eating of the fruit himself, but the standing there...passive..as his wife ate and then offered it to him. It seems that in my upbringing in the church I always felt Eve had the greater sin because she ate first. My prospective has greatly changed.
I do not want to be a passive man in my marriage. I desire to hold strong our Lords truth by His mercy and grace, and to lead and protect my wife in a way that honors her as a creation in Gods own image and that would please the Creator Himself.
5 comments:
Okay, so the thing that really stuck out to me here was how Satan brought sin into the world by causing Eve to DOUBT the words of God.
If we don't know His word, we can't stand firm on it when tempted. There won't be a sound foundation there.
I want to know God's words well enough to use them to rebuke the devil and his lies- as Jesus does in our day two reading (where He is being tempted in the desert) in Matthew 4.
It's amazing how being a mother has changed me. In the story of the Magi, when Herod ordered all of the boys 2 and under to be killed - I read these passages over and over again, seeking God's comfort in my thumping heart. This fury, this pure green envy, never hit so close to home before. Suddenly I can imagine the sorrow of those mothers, the fear of Mary, and perhaps worse - the GUILT. Every baby under 2 killed so that your son may live? What a peace that God must have brought to her over this, and only He could have.
Interesting thoughts Laura, especially the part about guilt. That's something I never thought of.
I love the first few chapters of Genesis. I think another interesting point about Satan's temptation of Eve is that along with causing her to doubt God, he is also causing her to doubt Adam. As the story is told, God tells Adam in 2:16 that he must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. To our knowledge, he doesn't repeat the instructions to Eve; He trusts Adam to do so. Of course, God may have repeated them to Eve, we don't know. But I think it reflects on doubts men and women have in marriage - does he really mean that? did she really say that? - in Satan attacking Eve's trust of her husband.
Interesting thought Charlotte about Satan attacking Eve's trust of her husband. I wonder what kind of thoughts she had toward Adam in that moment. I would even go further to say, why wasn't Adam there protecting eve from the lies of the serpent?...reminding her of the words that God spoke. What was Adam thinking in those moments??... I agree, this passage does reveal the many great challenges of marriage and true commitment to God and each other. Especially the goal that Satan and his hosts have to confuse and distort Gods plans for us. It wasn't until recently that I felt the weight of Adams great sin in this passage, not so much the eating of the fruit himself, but the standing there...passive..as his wife ate and then offered it to him. It seems that in my upbringing in the church I always felt Eve had the greater sin because she ate first. My prospective has greatly changed.
I do not want to be a passive man in my marriage. I desire to hold strong our Lords truth by His mercy and grace, and to lead and protect my wife in a way that honors her as a creation in Gods own image and that would please the Creator Himself.
"the earth was formless and desolate...Evening passed and morning came-that was the first day."
Wow, can you imagine day one. The world an empty canvas and every decision about it's future in your hands. Heavy.
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