Shalom to all, here is our study for Beresheit chapters 3 and 4.
You may eat fruit from all of the other trees in the garden, just not this one.
“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which
Yehovah Elohim had made. And he said to the
woman, has Elohim said, Do not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Gen 3:1)
Tactics of the adversary
The adversary then, and now, comes to us and often exaggerates
what Elohim has instructed us to do and not do. He also makes it sound
oppressive. The serpent didn’t say, “Did Elohim say you could eat of all of the
trees, except one?” He didn’t put his question in terms of the bounty Chava was
allowed to partake of. No, he made it sound as though being prohibited from
eating from that one tree, out of all the other trees, was such a burden.
He still uses the same tactic today.
Consider the Shabbat. He instructs us to work for six days
and do all our labors, and then the seventh we are to rest from our labors and
work, and not cause others to work. What does the adversary say? “What a burden
it is to not be able to work on Saturdays! How can Elohim expect you to not
work, go shopping, or cause others to work one whole day of the week? There is
no way anybody could do that.”
Or consider the clean food instructions. Father says we can
eat meat from any clean animal, and all fruits and vegetables. But how does the
adversary present the issue to us? “How can Elohim put such a burden on you
that you can’t eat pork, or shellfish, or snakes, rats, and bats? You are so
deprived! Why should Elohim have the nerve to tell you not to eat such
delicacies?”
Elohim can make the rules
When we think about it simply, Elohim created all things, He
has the right and responsibility to instruct us how we should live, He loves us,
and wants what is best for us. If we love Him, we accept His instructions and
do our best to live by them from our hearts out of love for Him and love for
our neighbor, with all our heart, all our soul, and all our strength.
The adversary doesn’t stop once he has our attention and has
lied to us.
His next step is to get us to see his temptation, really see
it in a manner that entices us.
“And 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 to be desired to make one wise, (sakal - prudent,
circumspect, insight, comprehend, notice wisdom is not among the meanings of
this Hebrew word) she took
of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her,
and he did eat.” (Gen
3:6)
“Seeing” the
adversary’s way
Chava had probably seen the fruit on the tree many times,
but Elohim said don’t eat it, and she saw it as you or I might see a tree at
the side of the road as we drive by. After we have driven by the same tree a
few times, we no longer even consciously notice it. But the adversary put a big
orange sign on the tree. He made Chava see it as food, even though it was not,
he made her see it as delightful instead of just like all the other trees, and
he made her see it as desirable rather than detestable.
To guard and cherish
How many things today have taken on the façade of good,
delightful, and desirable? Not to you perhaps, but to the indoctrinated masses
who flock into the streets leaving destruction in their wake out of a sense of “good”
or “justice"? Part of Adam’s charge was to guard the garden. Our charge is
to guard the words of Yehovah. Another sense of guard is to cherish because of their
value and because it is our Father in Heaven who has given them to us. It goes
back to love. Do we love our Father enough to cherish and obey His instructions?
May we always love Elohim enough to keep His commandments,
not out of duty, but out of returning His love that was so great He sent His
only begotten Son. Shalom and blessings.
October 31 we will study Beresheit Ch. 5-6, Jeremiah Ch. 2, Matthew 5-7 I pray you will join us.
