God’s Word for You

Genesis 3:2-3 Eve and the Word of God

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, September 9, 2026

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, so that you do not die.’”

The reader is left with a natural question: Why didn’t Eve question how the serpent could talk? There are probably all kinds of answers that seem mean, or belittling. Eve doesn’t get duped because she was literally “born yesterday,” as the saying goes. Eve doesn’t get duped because she was a “mere” woman and therefore incapable of responsible and logical thought. Whatever we might say of Adam’s sinless reasoning power and supreme intelligence, we must also say about Eve. Even as Eve is slipping into temptation, she sets an example that too many of us miss; too many of us get this wrong.

Eve bypasses the appearance of the talking serpent and gets right to the doctrinal mistake that she had just heard. Most of us, to our shame, would rather talk about anything else besides real doctrinal differences. Even if we’re confronted by a question of differences between churches, most people will confine themselves to superficial things and not anything of real importance. Most of the time we would content ourselves with talking about kneeling, which translation of the Bible or the Lord’s Prayer we use, style of distributing the Lord’s Supper, whether the choir stands in front or not, and things like that, than actually talk about whether Christ’s sacrifice on the cross atoned for all sins or not.

Therefore, we should not get caught up in unnecessary details when faced with false doctrine. Even if a distraction were as strange as a talking animal, if the doctrine of Christ has been misquoted, twisted, misrepresented, or belittled, that should be where all of our attention lies. We can save the social niceties for later, with irrelevant questions such as, “Say, where did you learn to talk?” The words themselves, if they claim to be the Word of God, are the most important thing.

When Eve quotes the command of the Lord, we must remember that she herself was not there to hear it from the Lord. She must have been taught the word of God from her husband. Polycarp wrote to the Philippians in the Second Century, “We must teach ourselves and teach our wives to walk in the faith, love and purity that was given to us.” But we have two questions here about her quotation, and they are valid questions.

First, does Eve go too far when she says they “must not touch it,” and second, do her words “so that you do not die” fail to go far enough?

Let us take these in turn. Does Eve go too far with “not touch it”? She is paraphrasing Genesis 2:16 and what she has obviously been taught by her husband. “We must not touch it” can be seen as a good application of the command. What would ever be the purpose of touching the fruit if they are never to eat it? Professor Jeske points out, “In Genesis 20:6, the Hebrew language uses ‘touch’ in this sense of acquitting something for personal use” (Genesis 1-11 p. 132). Why would they touch the fruit unless they were going to eat it? Even if they were only going to move a fallen fruit from the forbidden tree out of their usual walking path, if they picked it up with their hands, they might run the danger of tasting its juice on their fingers. Therefore it is, I think, a perfectly sound application of God’s command not to eat, to also say, do not touch it. “There is nothing wrong about elaborating God’s Word as long as we stay within its intent and meaning.” This, after all, is what preaching and teaching does.

Next, is Eve’s “so that you do not die” (pen + imperfect) a watering down of “you will surely die”? Many see this as Eve’s first slip, but if so, it would only be a slip toward sin, not a slip into sin. But her words could also be understood correctly if we take them in the kindest possible way. Certainly, she does not quote God exactly. She uses very similar language. One problem could be that she is emphasizing that they obey this command to avoid punishment (“so that (we) do not die”) rather than obeying God out of love.

And yet we can see that if she is indeed concerned about the right doctrine of what God said, the text shows us how easily the enemy begins to chip away at our own confidence in God’s exact words.

Martin Luther says, “It is the beginning of one’s ruin to turn away from God and to turn to Satan, that is, not to remain constant in the Word and in faith. When Satan sees these beginning, he now exerts himself with his utmost power, as though against a leaning wall (Psalm 62:3), in order to overwhelm her altogether.”

But the sin for which she is condemned is still to come. The sin will not be about this question, but about the actual eating of the fruit. Still, we are also warned by Professor Jeske: “We are not to enter into dialog with errorists with the thought of mutually enriching one another by such discussion” (Genesis 1-11 p. 133). In other words, this is a fascinating subject, but when we are confronted by unbelievers or heretics about the fall of man (or any other doctrine), we must speak the truth and get to the main point, if we have any reason to speak with them at all. To venture into a talk about the Word of God with an unbeliever just for the sake of a conversation is a dangerous thing that is to be avoided. Don’t forget that when it comes to the Word of God, an unbeliever (or, for that matter, a computer program) does not speak from faith, and can easily confuse or sidetrack the believer.

Eve runs back to the Word of God in these verses. She does not get confused by unimportant issues. We might do well to learn these lessons from her first response to the serpent. When answering an attack upon our faith from one who twists the word of God:

1, Do not become distracted by side-issues.
2, Return to the text of Scripture.
3, Examine the question at hand.
    Give an answer, if possible.
    If they persist, “Pray for more wisdom than you have.”
    (And remember that “Every request needs humility” ).
4, Compare their error with solid doctrine.
    Now give an answer. But if they persist…
5, Consider polemics (attack their position).
6, Instruct them in what doctrine they lack.
    Give a final answer. But if they persist…
7, If there is no success, mark and avoid them (Romans 16:17).

Then, remember Isaiah 55:10-11, that God’s Word does not return to him without accomplishing the work for which he sent it. If you have done everything you could, and you have used God’s Word correctly, you have done your duty by trying to snatch them from the fire (Jude 1:23). Pray for that person’s soul without getting hurt in your pride. And be comforted about your effort. My father-in-law said:

“When we are close to God and to Jesus, our Savior, then sinful pride and ambition will not be very active in us. Instead we will find joy in listening to God and finding satisfaction in life by following his guidance each day. May it be this way in your life and mine more and more all the time.”

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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