Satan finding Eve by herself began by insinuating that God was not altogether good to His creatures,
God had given every tree of the garden for food save one solitary tree. This prohibition was a test of the creature's obedience to the Creator. Moreover the Creator knew that if they did eat of the tree of knowledge and evil, the result would be the ruin of man's innocence, the poisoning of his very system by the introduction of the knowledge of evil, with, no power to resist it. Therefore His prohibition was merciful. Satan too knew that to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil would mean the ruin and fall of God's creatures. How evil was the great Adversary of set purpose to work such havoc and ruin. No one can faintly realize the awful tide of sin and wickedness that had its germ in this one act of disobedience.
When Eve responded, and told Satan that this one tree was forbidden, and that the penalty for eating thereof would be death, Satan, the liar and father of lies, told the cruellest of lies when he affirmed,
" Ye shall be as gods ": Satan dangled the same bait that had brought about his own downfall. In the desire to rise out of the position God had placed His creature lies the secret of the fall.
Moreover the tree was attractive from three points of view. It was good for food. It was pleasant to the eyes. It was desired to make the eater wise. Thus entered into the world the terrible system of lawlessness and iniquity.
" For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world " (1 John 2:1616For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1 John 2:16)).
There is nothing wrong to desire good food, given by a beneficent Creator for the sustenance of man. But when there were many trees able to satisfy, why eat of one hedged round by God's expressed prohibition? To eat of the tree in those circumstances meant, " the lust of the flesh." Neither is it wrong to admire what is pleasant to the eyes. God, who created beauty, must rejoice when His creature appreciates what is beautiful. But when this admiration is so strong as to lead to the taking what God has forbidden, it becomes a grievous thing, " the lust of the eyes." The third character of the temptation, " the pride of life," was the strongest of all. To be as gods, to know good and evil, surely that was worth risking the eating of the tree in defiance of God's prohibition, and risking the sentence of death in all its horrors.
Under this threefold temptation Eve committed the terrible act of putting out her hand and taking of the forbidden fruit. Little did she realize the results that would flow from her act, stretching down to the appalling state of things we see in the world to-day.
Eve gave of the forbidden fruit to Adam; and he, not being deceived, was all the more culpable as head to the woman, and thus shared in the fall.
Satan thus obtained an unholy triumph over the very first pair in this world.
Centuries went by, and Satan flushed with an unbroken series of victories over fallen man, at last attempted his most daring assault upon the Son of God. At the beginning of our Lord's earthly ministry we read:
" Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungred " (Matt. 4:22And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. (Matthew 4:2)).
It was fitting that our adorable Lord, as the dependent Man, should undergo this temptation. Hence He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness. The circumstances in which the temptation took place stand in vivid contrast to those in the Garden of Eden. Our first parents were in a beautiful garden with plenty of luscious fruit wherewith to satisfy their hunger. Only one tree was withheld from them in God's mercy. Our Lord was in a wilderness, had fasted for forty days, was hungered, and amid wild beasts.
Satan's first temptation appealed to " the lust of the flesh." To his utter surprise he found no response to this in our Lord. He was sinless, and there was nothing in Him to answer to the evil without. The Devil said, " if Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones he made bread " (Matt. 4:33And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. (Matthew 4:3)).
Our Lord, as the dependent Man, answered, quoting Scripture: " It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God " (Matt. 4:44But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)).
What a sharp contrast to the conduct of Eve! Our Lord would live by every word that issued from the mouth of God. If Eve had done that she might have been living to-day. Alas! she contravened what God said as to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Our Lord on the contrary, would not take Himself out of the hand of God, and perform a miracle at the bidding of Satan. The sword of the Spirit was His defense and with it He foiled the enemy.
Again the attack was pressed home. Satan this time took our Lord into the holy city, and set Him on a pinnacle of the Temple. He said to Him: " If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee; and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone" (Matt. 4:66And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. (Matthew 4:6)).
This temptation appealed to " the pride of life." And never is the Devil more subtle than when he quotes Scripture. To add to, or take from, the Word of God is very serious. Turn to Psa. 91:11,12,11For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. (Psalm 91:11‑12) and you will see that Satan designedly, and for his own evil ends, left out words, which we draw attention to by printing them in bold type. " For He shall give His angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee in all THY ways."
Satan demanded of our Lord that He should prove He was the Son of God by walking in Satan's way. Our Lord's way was that of absolute obedience to the will of God, and therein He was safe. Again our Lord took up the sword of the Spirit: " Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God " (Matt. 4:77Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (Matthew 4:7)). Our Lord quoted Scripture, but in His blessed hands, it was the sword of the Spirit.
Foiled again, Satan made a third attempt. He took our Lord into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, "And saith unto Him, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me " (Matt. 4:99And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (Matthew 4:9)).
Here Satan disclosed what is in his heart of hearts. He fell, seeking to be God, and carrying with him in his fall angels who shared in his rebellion. Here again he seeks worship, and awful to say, worship from the Son of God. Here he tries " the lust of the eyes." What a sight it must have been, the kingdoms of this world and their glory, all stretched out before His gaze. Our Lord was proof against this last temptation, and again He used the sword of the Spirit, saying,
Worship belongs only to God. What a profound and unthinkable degradation it would have been to have worshipped the Devil, the very arch-enemy of God. How terrible was the temptation! How acutely our adorable Lord must have suffered in its presentation. At last the Devil left Him, and angels ministered unto Him.
For the first time in all his long history of wicked rebellion against God, the Devil had come up against One in whom, he could find no response whatever.
So where our first parents failed, our Lord triumphed. If He had not triumphed, there would have been the collapse of His whole mission to this world. He could not have been our Savior. How we rejoice in His holy triumph over the great Adversary.
Again the Devil assailed our Lord at the end of His earthly life when all the dread ordeal of the cross was before Him. The Devil utterly, failed again. Our Lord could say, " Hereafter I will not talk much with you; for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me " (John 14:3030Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. (John 14:30)).