What Was She Thinking?

What was Eve thinking?  Here she was in a perfect garden created by God, with everything she could possibly need accessible to her and she faltered when she saw the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

After Eve was influenced by the serpent to see God and His intentions in a different light than good, she misquoted God by adding to His word.

He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 

'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" 

 And the woman said to the serpent, 

"We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, 

but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree 

in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, 

lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, 

"you will not surely die.  

For God knows that when you eat of it 

your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, 

knowing good from evil."  

Did you notice how the serpent used Eve's misquoting of God's words to deliberately cause her to question God's good intentions for her life.  God never told Adam and Eve not to 'touch' the fruit of the tree.

Ultimately, Eve began to covet the tree as she looked at it she noticed how good it was and wanted it for herself.

So 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, 

she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to 

her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Covetousness is the strong desire to have something which belongs to another.  It is idolatry and it is equated with immorality and impurity.  It is a grievous internal offense that Jesus listed among adultery, theft and murder.

Obviously it is heinous enough to eject Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and disrupt their communion with God.

Covetousness comes about when we look at God's good things and find that they delight or titillate our senses, finding them aesthetically pleasing and then in our finding pleasure there  we make decisions based on our desire to have that thing.  We convince ourselves that the object of our affection will somehow make US seem better in some way or another.  Then once we have convinced ourselves that it is 'good' to desire whatever it is we begin to try to convince others to think the same way.

Covetousness directly interferes with the believer preaching the gospel!  It takes our eyes off of the Creator and gets them focused on created things.  How can we declare the goodness and faithfulness of God if we are convinced that in order for us to be perceived as wiser or more desirable we have to have something other than God?

If we buy into the lie that we ourselves form in our minds then we cannot focus on God's love for us. Like Eve we forget all the goodness around us and become focused on the one thing that God has withheld from us.  Our hearts entertain the thought that God is not enough to satisfy us or wise enough to make decisions for our lives.

In essence we like Eve become wise in our own eyes.  Eve's sin was that she did not trust that God was good or had her best intentions in mind.  

Proverbs 3:5-8

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, 

and do not lean on your own understanding.  

In all your ways acknowledge him, 

and he will make straight your paths.  

Be not wise in your own eyes; 

fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.  

It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.  

We can learn a lot from Eve.  Had she run to God to check with him on what he actually said she could have avoided becoming the forbidden woman of proverbs.  If she had sought the wisdom of God instead of assuming that she could gain it some other way, she could have avoided being banned from the garden.

Proverbs 2:1

My son, if you receive my words 

and treasure up my commandments with you, 

making your heart attentive to wisdom and 

inclining your heart to understanding,  

yes if you call out for insight 

and raise your voice for understanding, 

if you seek it like silver 

and search for it as for hidden treasures, 

then you will understand the fear of the LORD 

and find the knowledge of God.  

Eve was looking to creation to fulfill her desire for wisdom and knowledge and she went about it as a thief.

John 10:1

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.  

We can't obtain wisdom without going to the source of all wisdom himself.    Eve was trying to take a short cut to obtain status in her own mind.  She could have just called out to God instead of continuing on the path of covetousness.  God would surely have revealed deep things of Himself to her and Adam had they asked and not followed the path of knowledge without God.

Abba we are so prone to take short cuts in our spiritual lives.  We want to be perceived as wise and knowledgable yet we don't make time to search You out for Your word.  We love beautiful things and are easily captivated but what we see in other's lives leading us onto the path of covetousness.  We ask Lord that you pour our your grace on our hearts and minds that we would have a greater desire for You and that we would see the beauty of Jesus and be continually enthralled by it.  We lay down every sin that so easily besets us as we compare our lives with the lives of others.  Help us to 'cut off' our gaze from things that lead us away from the truth of your goodness and faithfulness.