A Provocation and Prophecy in Paradise
“And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:14-15 (KJV)
As we continue our Christmas blog series, I invite you to direct your consideration toward a titanic trespass that threw the whole human race in brokenness and failure. This was Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God’s command in the Garden of Eden. But their fall and failure forwarded a faithful Redeemer that would rescue us from our rebellion and remove us from “Reprobate Road.”
According the biblical and historical account found in Genesis 3:1-15, we have what I refer to as “Provocation and Prophecy in Paradise.”
First, let’s define the word “provocation,” an act which happened in the location known as Eden (I refer to it as paradise). Provocation is to incite or stimulate a person, to action, to give rise to, induce, or bring about.
When God spoke in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, His words produced life, order and truth. In contrast, when the Provocateur of sin, Satan, speaks, he produced death, disorder and lies. Therefore, in paradise, Satan the Provocateur provoked Eve to challenge the credibility of God’s word and the character of God.
Provocation produces the following questions from a heart that has been perversely persuaded:
Did God really say that?
Is this really the Word of God?
You don’t believe that the Bible is true, do you?
However, our Lord Jesus Christ pummeled the Provocateur’s position on Scripture and laid down the law indicating that the Scriptures are indeed the very word of God. When Satan tempted Jesus Christ, His questions sought to suspend the sacredness and the superior position of God’s Word. However, Jesus Christ demonstrated submission to the authority of Scripture in His responses:
“But 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 (KJV)
Jesus trumped each temptation of the devil by turning to scripture: "It is written…It is written…It is written” (Matthew 4:1-10). We must always separate Scripture from our speculation into what God has said or our opinion regarding what God has said.Notice when Satan approached Eve, he provoked her to offer an opinion of what God said and to focus on the limits of His commands versus the liberties of His commands.
When the Provocateur purposes to park in your mind and heart, make a power move and point him to truth of God’s word. Remember: “It is written…it is written and it is written!”
Join me again next week as we continue to expand on this concept.
Not a Sermon But a Thought,
PBKSR