“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?”
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 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.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Just like our parents, though, God wanted so much better for Adam and Eve. He wanted them to have a life free from stress and worry, free from sickness and disease, free from danger and free from struggle. Adam and Eve, much like us when we were teenagers, had not experienced the world like that. They couldn't conceive of life going wrong. They couldn't understand why rules were enacted.
Sure, God could have removed the tree from their reach, but would that have taught them anything? Would that have proved their obedience to Him? Would it have proved their love? A lack of options is not a choice. God didn't want robots, He wanted authenticity in His relationship.
He still does.
Satan did a good job of giving Eve different thoughts to muddle her rationalization skills.
Adam and Eve were the beginning of the human race. Whatever they did would effect their progeny forever.
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
Eve, who had rationalized in her mind that just touching the fruit was dangerous, touched the fruit and did not die. Seeing it caused her no harm, she took a bite. If we add to the Word of God enough, we start to believe it. This is why Revelation says not to add to or take from the Word of God. Our minds can be tricked by Satan to believe a lie.
How hard was it to follow His instruction? Think about that the next time you tell your 3-year-old not to push a button.
It is important to take God at His every word. It is important to follow His command. It is important to KNOW the Word of God so that when Satan presents over-rationalizations, you can refer to it in it's correct form and maintain the straight path of obedience.
22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.