Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.

       And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
 

       And the woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

       but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden,

       God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die'" (Genesis 3:1-3).

 

The first thing said about the serpent was that he was "crafty." Being crafty is different from being wise. Craftiness is usually devoted to finding brilliant ways to bend the rules. Contrary to this, Jesus came to fulfill the law. One of the fundamental ways we can distinguish those who are sent by God from those who are sent by the devil is by seeking ways to obey and seeking ways to avoid obedience and get away with it.

 

In his craftiness, the serpent did not boldly contradict the Lord's command at first, but just encouraged Eve to question it. There are good questions and there are bad ones. The good ones are motivated by faith, seeking to know the Lord's ways so that we can please Him. The bad ones are usually motivated by fear, or the desire to bend the rules. The serpent was trying to get the woman to question God in the wrong way, which is usually the first step into his deadly trap.

 

The woman's response to the serpent's question reveals the doorway to the disobedience the devil was seeking. She responded that the Lord commanded that they should not eat from the forbidden tree "or touch it." The Lord did not say anything about not touching it. Adding to the Word of God is just as wrong as taking away from it. This reveals that we esteem our own opinions as much as we do His Word.

This was the sin of the Pharisees that led to holding their own traditions even above the Word of God.

 

 

As stated, there are good and bad questions, which can actually be the same question. Whether they are good or bad is determined by our motives. There was nothing wrong with Eve wanting to understand theTree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was only wrong for her to eat from it. God created us with curiosity, which is the foundation of a seeking heart. However, we must always guard ourselves against the trap that Eve fell into, which is doubting God. He is true, just, and always has our best interests in mind. Anything that causes us to doubt Him will lead to evil. This often begins with a simple tendency to just want to bend the rules.

 

It is the Lord's delight to turn our weaknesses into strengths. It is the devil's delight to turn our strengths into weaknesses, or opportunities to cause us to fall. He will try to take a seeking heart and turn it into a cynical heart. A cynical heart questions everything from the perspective of doubt rather than faith. This has caused the tragic fall of journalism in our own time, taking those who begin with a desire for truth and understanding, and sowing such a cynical attitude in them that they often become strongholds for the accuser of the brethren.

 

Watch out for "craftiness." Watch out for those who propose anything that conflicts with the clear Word of God. If we allow ourselves to be deceived by such reasoning, it will lead to a fall. As we are told in I Corinthians 15:33, "Do not be deceived: 'Bad company corrupts good morals.'" The church is called to be the highest form of fellowship on earth. The devil also knows very well that spiritual authority is multiplied with unity, and if even two people come into agreement, God will answer their prayers (see Matthew 18:19). The devil is, therefore, continually seeking to bring discord to fellowship. We must guard our fellowship against the inclusion of those who are constantly causing divisions, or causing God's little ones to stumble, as we are told in Romans 16:17-18: The church is called to be the highest form of fellowship on earth. The devil also knows very well that spiritual authority is multiplied with unity, and if even two people come into agreement, God will answer their prayers (see Matthew 18:19). The devil is, therefore, continually seeking to bring discord to fellowship. We must guard our fellowship against the inclusion of those who are constantly causing divisions, or causing God's little ones to stumble, as we are told in Romans 16:17-18:

 

       Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.

       For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.

 

 

Jude referred to these stumbling blocks as "faultfinders" (see verse 16). We have a responsibility to protect the Lord's people from these. At the same time, we must guard our own hearts against becoming cynical or closed to those the Lord may be seeking to join to us. The faultfinders and the stumbling blocks that the enemy sends to cause divisions will show their true natures quickly. We must remove them, and turn away from them, or they will do great damage to the fellowship of the saints. We must also do this in a way that does not close our hearts to legitimate correction from the authority that the Lord has established in His church.