Genesis 3:1-3 "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (2) And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of 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 hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."
We looked at the subtilty of the serpent yesterday. Today, we will look at
Eve's response to the serpent.
God's command was very simple and to the point concerning the Tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. "... 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." (Genesis 2:17) I consider that to be
very straightforward. Don't eat of the tree or you will die.
How did Eve answer the serpent? "God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it,
neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." Notice anything different about
her answer? Yes, she added to the Word of God by saying, "... Neither
shall ye touch it..." It seems she was placing an extra fence around
the tree to keep her away from it. Her restriction stated, "I can't eat
off the tree if I don't touch it."
That doesn't sound too bad, does it? The problem lies in trying to add to
the Word of God in order to place ourselves in control. God simply said,
"Don't eat the fruit." That should be enough. We need to read the
Word, need the Word, and apply the Word as it is. We do not need to add
anything in order to place it more in force.