By Dr. Barry Kolb | The Four Stages of Temptation
STAGE 1: SUBTLE & UNEXPECTED
Genesis 3:1
The idyllic life of the first man and woman in the garden of Eden is disrupted by the appearance of the serpent. This serpent tempts the woman to break God’s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Her choice to taste the fruit disturbs the order of creation and damages the relationship between God and His creation because now part of His creation is out of order.
STAGE 2: CONVERSATION & CONTROVERSY
Genesis 3:1b-3
The serpent’s question omits the positive statement made by God in Gen 2:16. The serpent also distorts the earlier statement by presenting God as saying Adam and Eve could not eat from any tree at all.
STAGE 3: DOUBT & DESIRE
Genesis 3:4-6a
The serpent uses the ambiguity of the penalty’s wording to make the woman less fearful and more apt to follow his solicitation.
STAGE 4: COLLABORATION & CATASTROPHE
Genesis 3:6b-7
Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, so they both experienced the new knowledge of rebellion. Their consequent behavior illustrates this: they covered themselves when they perceived that they were naked
Where was Adam when all this was going down? (1 Timothy 2:13-14; Romans 5:12-14)
What Next?