As
we go back to the first garden, where deception and iniquity was
introduced, we find the manner in which mankind is plagued with
temptation. The serpent first causes Eve to question the command of
God (“Yea, hath God said...”) and then magnifies confusion by
exaggerating the truth (“...you shall not eat of every tree?”).
But her response to the devil’s prodding was an interesting one:
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. 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.”
(Genesis 3:2b-3) You can’t touch it? Somehow, Eve took the command
of God much further. God told them simply to not consume the fruit,
but she had to throw in an ethereal, made up preference of not
touching it!
Now,
someone may think that this is even better because it is more like a
safeguard, but if there is anything that I know about mankind and
standards, it’s that we easily manage to gloss over God’s simple
truths and turn them into heavy burdens. Given more time, Eve could
have very well thought to herself, “I know God said not to eat the
fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, but if that’s the case,
then I’m sure He doesn’t want us touching it, and if we must not
even touch it, then most certainly looking at it would cause great
harm as well!” Perhaps, at some point, we would have found Adam and
Eve wandering aimlessly around the beautiful garden blindfolded. This
is how some people think that they are to live in the world. If they
were in Eden, rather than focusing on the joy of walking with God,
they would hide themselves inside a dark cave for fear that forbidden
fruit might fall off the tree and roll right next to them!
Of
course, one might declare, “Now wait a minute Josh! The bible says
that we are to ‘touch not the unclean thing’ and so it is the
principle of the matter!” What Paul was alluding to, when he wrote
this statement to the believers at Corinth, was the call of
separation from wicked influences. The context can be found in
Numbers 12:21-26 and Isaiah 52:11-12. Particularly, Isaiah had urged
the Jews to not be influenced by the idolatries and superstitions of
Babylon (Sadly, a study into the mystical teachings of Kabbalism
found in Israel and the facets of the Babylonian Talmud, reveals that
Isaiah’s cries went unheeded.) Allowing the philosophies of this
world to impact our hearts is one thing, but when it comes to an
inanimate object, such as fruit, I am quite sure that Eve was wrong
in adding another standard to God’s command. It was the promise of
divine enlightenment, through the eating of the fruit, that proved to
be ruinous. There is more to
be exposed, when it comes to this idea of her being “enlightened”
by the fruit, but it will have to come later.
At
this time, I want you to notice what Paul declares in Colossians
2:20-23, “If you have died with Christ to the world's way of
doing things, why do you let others tell you how to live? It's as
though you were still under the world's influence. People will tell
you, ‘Don't handle this! Don't taste or touch that!’ All of these
things deal with objects that are only used up anyway. These things
look like wisdom with their self-imposed worship, false humility, and
harsh treatment of the body. But they have no value for holding back
the constant desires of your corrupt nature (GWT).”
When my mother was a child, she
attended a small Holiness Church in eastern North Carolina. During
that time, she would hear teaching that touted standards such as
women were not supposed to wear jewelry, drums were not to be
included in music, and the KJV was the only translation a Christian
could use. There are many other conjured up safeguards that
mankind under the vehicle of religion has espoused.
Now,
in no way am I seeking to belittle the accuracy and beauty of the
KJV, nor am I of the opinion that all music is amoral, but what I am
relaying is the fact that many people have a unique way of adding
their own spin to what God has revealed in His word. Indeed, there
are some who faithfully follow religious regulations, not because
they simply want to please God out of a heart of love, but because
their holy performance makes them feel like they are more favored by
God and better suited to tell others how to live. This is what the
devil wants. He is not worried about the person who accepts the
“touch not, taste not”
philosophy, he is more concerned with the one who has died to his
flesh ! Let forbidden fruit fly at his face and it wouldn’t matter,
because his heart is fixed on Christ!
Concerning Eve’s statement about not touching the fruit, Adam
Clarke wrote, “Some of the Jewish writers, who are only serious on
comparative trifles, state that as soon as the woman had asserted
this, the serpent pushed her against the tree and said, ‘See, thou
hast touched it, and art still alive; thou mayest therefore safely
eat of the fruit, for surely thou shalt not die.” This teaching is
purely speculative but it does carry with it some partial insight
into why Eve succumbed to the temptation. What she thought was
dangerous to the touch turned out to be like any other fruit. If the
foundation for our spiritual devotion to the Lord is rooted in our
own man made standards, then the devil is content, for he most
certainly will present us with a loophole and seek to exploit it. And
later, as we will see, this kind of living opens the door for
presumption and pride. But the believer who has made God his first
love, who daily walks with Him, and can boldly declare, ‘The
LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him’
(Lamentations 3:24), this devotion will cause that vile serpent to
tremble.
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