Eyes Wide Opened, but Still Not Seeing Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Eyes Wide Opened, but Still Not Seeing ----------------------- Date: 8/24/1999 Keywords: "choice" "choose" "temptation" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Genesis 3:1-7* 1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2. And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3. but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.’” 4. And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die! 5. “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. Questions Here at the beginning of human history, man and woman face their first temptation in the Garden of Eden. 1. Compare Genesis 3:3 above with God's warning in Genesis 2:17 (“but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.”) How did the serpent misrepresent what God had said?   2. In verses 3-4, the serpent speaks boldly. In what way did he directly contradict God?   3. When it finally came time to decide whether to eat or not, what did Eve depend on?   Practical help On the other side of their act, Adam and Eve did know “good and evil.” But at what a price! It is like children who burn themselves on stoves. Now they “know” the difference between cold and hot — but at the cost of terrible burns. Far better for children to trust their parents’ counsel and not go near the stoves. Far better for Eve to have trusted the word of God and not eaten the fruit. Far better for those who are tempted by the lure of eye-catching pornography to stay away. Viewing it will bring a certain knowledge. But the gain won’t be worth the cost. From one perspective, porn may be a “delight to the eyes” (verse 6) but, like the fruit of Genesis 3, its appeal masks a poison . eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 1999 by eXXit *"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."