Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat of any tree in the garden?’” The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”
Genesis 3:1-6
“You will not surely die,” the serpent told her. “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it.
Did you know that the first sin the Bible was a dietary violation? God provided a pretty simple diet plan: Eat from any tree in the Garden except for that special one in the middle. The serpent was quick to suggest to Eve that God had an ulterior motive. But notice that gaining wisdom wasn’t Eve’s only motivation to taste that forbidden fruit; she was attracted to the food itself and it was pleasing to her eyes.
Eve was drawn in by pleasure, but the serpent offered her an excuse.
And he did the same thing to Daniel.
The king assigned them daily provisions of the royal food and wine….But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or wine. So he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself. Now God had granted Daniel favor and compassion from the chief official, but he said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men your age? You would endanger my head before the king!
Daniel 1:5, 8-10
Daniel had realized that by eating the evil king’s decadent food, he would defile himself and dishonour his God, so he chose to eat only vegetables. Yet Satan offered a few compelling justifications to break this vow. The king had already shown mercy to Daniel and his friends and was treating them like royalty (literally!) with his fine spread of rich foods. What an awkward situation! To make matters worse, the chief official (who seemed like a decent guy) was worried that Daniel would start to look thin and have the chief’s head. Daniel was tempted to eat for other people.
Daniel was attracted to the royal buffet, but Satan offered him an excuse.
And he did the same thing to Jesus.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
Matthew 4:3
Jesus was hungry. He had every reason to eat if he wanted, but had made the decision before his Father that he would not eat, and was a man of his word. But the Tempter decided to offer him another reason to break his vow: to prove that he was the Son of God. Perhaps, the devil could evoke a whiff of pride in Jesus.
Jesus was feeling hunger, but the Tempter offered him an excuse.
In each of these cases we see two things at work.
- The true motivation/temptation to eat
- The provided excuse or justification to eat
In Eve’s case, she was seeking pleasure and Satan offered her an excuse: God is holding out on you. In Daniel’s case, he had a decadent buffet set before him and Satan offered him an excuse: “You don’t want to offend the host”. In Jesus’ case, he was simply hungry and Satan offered him an excuse: “Prove your power”.
I find it fascinating that Satan never appeals to the true desire directly. He doesn’t try to sell Eve on how good the fruit looked or Jesus convince Jesus that he should satisfy his understandable hunger.
No, in each case the Devil knew that they were either bound by a command or a vow of some kind that effectively counteracted their carnal desire. So he had to be tricky about it. He had to provide an excuse for them. He had to offer a convincing rationalization that would let them off the hook, either with God or with their own integrity.
Aren’t we the same way? Don’t we have a laundry list of rationalizations for why we eat, even when we have made an iron-clad vow to God and ourselves?
“I don’t want to be too restrictive”
“I’m an emotional eater”
“I don’t want to insult the host”
“I will eat this just one time and then never again”
“I was harmed as a child and I eat to cope”
“This food is organic/all natural/farm raised/high in omega 3’s”
“You only live once”
The rationalizations are endless, but they are not the true reason we eat in spite of our vows. The truth is that we eat against our commitment otherwise because our flesh seeks the compulsive pleasure of it. And when Satan attacks us with some crafty excuse, we ignore the truth and swallow the lie.
We have our moment of pleasure. A short time of bliss with little regard for the consequences. What follows, however, is anger, shame, self-flagellation, distraughtness, self-loathing, and despair. Hopelessness is often in the mix too if we have been ensnared by this pattern of compulsive consumption for a long time.
And Satan has us right where he wants us.
The consequence of Eve’s choice changed the fate of the human race. If Daniel had succumbed he might have died in that hot oven, having lost God’s favour. Instead, he chose integrity and Jesus even popped in to say hi (Daniel 3:25)! If Jesus had given in to the Tempter’s challenge, he would not have been the chosen Messiah and we would all be dead in our sins. Yet Jesus chose to be a man of his word and crushed the head of the serpent under his foot (Genesis 3:15).
The universe may not hang in the balance based on your food choices the way it did for Eve, Daniel, or Jesus. But consider this: your universe does. I would argue that your fate is based profoundly on your ability to act with integrity when faced with the choice between good and evil.
And that battle will become radically easier if you can recognize Satan’s attacks.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
I absolutely needed to hear this today!
Thanks! I need to hear it too…