HE TWISTS GOD’S WORDS

MEMORY VERSE: Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Genesis 3:1

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Revelation 1-3

Genesis 3:1 says: “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”There were many serpents in the Garden of Eden; there must have been Cobras, Pythons, Rattlesnakes, Mambas, etc – all harmless. In Genesis 3:1, the bible talks about a particular serpent, ‘the serpent,’ which devil entered into and deceived Eve. The bible records that this particular “serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field.” One of the things you need to know about the devil is that he is subtle. The devil rarely approaches man in the form of a man-like figure with two horns and a tail. He is too wise for that. He knows people will run if they see such figure so he comes disguised. At times, he disguises himself like an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). He comes talking about A when he means B. He appears as if he is caring when he is actually the opposite.

“And he said unto the woman,” implies that the devil spoke through the serpent. Another attribute of the devil is that he speaks through things. In the case of Eve, he spoke through a snake but in the case of Jesus, he spoke through Peter. Matthew 16:23 says: “But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” Contrary to popular belief that Jesus called Peter - Satan, no He did not. Jesus was referring to the devil, who took the advantage of Peter’s weakness and ignorance; and put him upon dissuading Christ from suffering, for the salvation of His people.

“Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Here we see the devil twisting God’s words. Firstly, at no point did the Lord tell them not to eat of any tree in the Garden. What God said was, “of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die (Genesis 2:16-17).” Do not be fooled into thinking that the devil does not know the scripture. He knows it by heart. He knows God’s words but he twists it to confuse people. The fact that someone counsels you and backs it up with the scripture does not mean it is from God. Sometimes last year, someone approached me and told me that smoking marijuana or cannabis is biblical. He said God gave us every seed-bearing plant and tree that has fruit with seed in it has food (Genesis 1:29). According to him, cannabis or marijuana has seeds hence no problem consuming them. I said no problem that means castor bean - poisonous plant with seed – must be edible then, he said no. The devil twisted Genesis 1:29 to mean that cannabis smoking is a godly thing since cannabis or marijuana has seeds. Why will God permit His beloved children to smoke cannabis when it affects their mental health? Christians must not smoke cannabis! Someone also told me that God forbids intermarriage – marriage between two races or tribes. He backed it up with “to your tent o Israel (1 Kings 12:16)” meaning everyone should go back to their tribes and marry from there. Another instance of God’s words being twisted by the devil. God is not against intermarriage – marriage between two races or tribe because there is neither Jew nor Greek in Christ for we are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 5:28).

ACTION: Take time to meditate on scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit for its application.

PRAYER: Father, please rid your church of wrong doctrines.

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

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