Gen 3:1–6
1) Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2) And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3) but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4) And the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5) For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6) So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.
ST Feb 13, 1896
The woman erred when she entered into controversy with the serpent. The Lord had not said, “Ye shall not touch it.” He had said, “Of every tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Psalm 78: 1
Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
Psalm 17: 4
By the word of Your lips, I have kept myself from the paths of the destroyer.
Psalm 119: 11
Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
Matthew 4:4
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
1Tim 2:14
…but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
2Red 11
Eve had overstated the words of God’s command. He had said to Adam and Eve, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” In Eve’s controversy with the serpent, she added, “Neither shall ye touch it.” Here the subtlety of the serpent appeared. This statement of Eve gave him advantage; he plucked the fruit and placed it in her hand, using her own words, He hath said, if ye touch it, ye shall die. You see no harm comes to you from touching the fruit, neither will you receive any harm by eating it. Eve yielded to the lying sophistry of the devil in the form of a serpent. She ate the fruit, and realized no immediate harm. She then plucked the fruit for herself and for her husband.
UL 318
How hard it is for man to walk humbly with God, to believe His Word and accept His plans. Satan’s propositions appear to present great advantages, but they end in ruin. Over and over again men have found out by experience the result of refusing to walk in the path of obedience. Will not others gain wisdom from their experience? Let us think of the experience of our first parents and be afraid of any plans that are not based on obedience to God’s will.
3MR 332, 333 (Ms 51, 1900)
When will men learn that which has been so fully demonstrated in the history of the past? The workings of Satan show that he can be neither idle nor harmless. Yet how pleasing men and women still find Satan’s allurements. Today his arguments are the same that he presented to Eve. He still uses flattery; he still creates envy and distrust, and excites the desire for self-exaltation.
5T 504
The history of the past shows an active, working devil. He can no more be idle than harmless. Satan was found in only one tree to endanger the safety of Adam and Eve. He planned to attract the holy pair to that one tree, that they might do the very thing God had said they should not do—eat of the tree of knowledge. There was no danger to them in approaching any other tree. How plausible his speech! He laid hold of the very arguments which he uses today, flattery, envy, distrust, questioning, and unbelief. If Satan was so cunning at first, what must he be now after gaining an experience of many thousands of years? Yet God and holy angels, and all those who abide in obedience to all the Lord’s expressed will, are wiser than he. The subtlety of Satan will not decrease, but the wisdom given to men through a living connection with the Source of all light and divine knowledge will be proportionate to his arts and wiles.
1Cor 10:11
Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.
5T 698
It was by the display of supernatural power, in making the serpent his medium, that Satan caused the fall of Adam and Eve in Eden. Before the close of time he will work still greater wonders. So far as his power extends, he will perform actual miracles. Says the Scripture: “He… deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do,” not merely those which he pretends to do. Something more than mere impostures is brought to view in this scripture. But there is a limit beyond which Satan cannot go, and here he calls deception to his aid and counterfeits the work which he has not power actually to perform. In the last days he will appear in such a manner as to make men believe him to be Christ come the second time into the world. He will indeed transform himself into an angel of light.