3 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’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 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, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:1-6 NASB
This is my second post on the Fall. The devil, showing himself here to Eve, puts temptation in the form of a question. “Has God said you are not to eat from any tree in of the garden?”
He may as well have asked, What is the point of all these beautiful trees and all this beautiful fruit if you aren’t allowed to eat any? What’s with that?
But the devil has deliberately misstated the prohibition. He’s making the prohibition about any tree in the garden. He’s making it sound as if God is unreasonable.
Some have seen the prohibitions around sexuality in the Bible – relations only with the opposite sex, no sexual relations outside of marriage – and concluded that God asks people not to enjoy their sexuality.
The devil has, as I’ve said, misstated the prohibition. Adam and Eve were allowed to eat of the trees of the garden – all but one. And God does permit the enjoyment of sexuality – within the given limits. By deliberately misstating the prohibition, the devil makes it seem as if God is somehow unreasonable.
God may be demanding, but he is not unreasonable.
– SSXG