According to the Book of Genesis, God created the heaven and the earth:

As He first spoke into the darkness, God created the light. He saw that it was good:

Many people who begin reading the Bible reject its basic premise, which is that God is the Creator. Instead, they claim that the universe somehow created itself. Even among those who accept that God is the Creator, many of them question who God is. Some think He is a nameless energy force whose source is within their own minds and defined by their own thoughts.

Fueling this concept, René Descartes, a seventeenth century French philosopher, wrote the now famous words, "je pense, donc je suis," which mean in English, "I think, therefore I am." He defined his existence by his own thoughts, which is by his own reason. As others joined Descartes in believing reason to be the basis of being, they provided the foundation for the beginning of the "Age of Reason," which is also called the "Enlightenment."

Reason is a wonderful gift from God. However, when we allow it to freely challenge the authority of Yahweh because His word does not agree with our reason, we run into problems. The "Enlightened" are quick to find reasons why they should reject the truth of the Bible. As they read it, they soon find discrepancies that do not fit with their reason.

First they learn that Yahweh, the Creator of all things, is gracious, compassionate, patient, merciful, and good to "all his works" (everything and everyone):

Then they look around the world and see social injustice, war, famine, disease, hurricanes, earthquakes, and even global warming. Striving for compassion and tolerance, they ask, "How can a loving God allow this?" Trying to respond through the filter of enlightened reason, they can only believe either that "there is no God" or "contrary to what He says, the God of the Bible is not loving." Therefore, they conclude, "we need to find a god that is ‘gracious, compassionate, patient, merciful, and good.’"

These thoughts are not new. When Satan showed himself in the Garden of Eden in the form of a subtle serpent, he also brought up the issue of Yahweh’s apparent injustice. He began with a question about whether Yahweh had really said what the woman thought He had said:

Had the woman ignored the words of the serpent, she would not have been deceived. Likewise, had she clearly known the words God had said, and believed them, she would not have been confused. Nevertheless, without either clearly understanding or strongly believing the Word of God, she naively engaged the serpent in a dialogue:

She quoted part of what Yahweh had said. However, she failed to quote Him accurately. He didn’t mention anything about touching the fruit. He only said that they must not eat of it!

Either she didn’t know what Yahweh had really said, or she misunderstood it, or she embellished upon it. In any case, she opened herself up to the serpent, who appealed to her reason concerning the apparent injustice of God.

Until this point, everything that she had known was good, because it was created by God:

If God is good and His creation is good, how could He be so cruel? How could a loving God cause someone to die just because, as she said, they only touched a piece of fruit? It did not seem reasonable to her.

With a seed of doubt now growing in her mind, the woman was ready to receive the next words that the serpent offered. He told her that the Word of Yahweh was not really true. She would not die at all! Instead, the serpent told her that she would be as gods, knowing good and evil:

Believing the subtle deception of the serpent instead of the word of Yahweh, the woman, along with her husband, ate of the forbidden fruit:

Once the knowledge of evil entered into the couple in the Garden of Eden, it soon overtook the minds of mankind, who continually thought of it:

How could a "serpent" have so completely deceived mankind? He is really Satan, the great deceiver of the world:

Words are symbols that are used to transmit thoughts from one mind to another. When the woman allowed Satan to speak to her as an enchanting "serpent," she opened her mind to receive his thoughts. By engaging him in dialogue, she allowed him to manipulate her reason by his subtle and skillful use of words. He then successfully deceived her mind into believing him instead of Yahweh.

Satan tried a similar tactic on Yahshua (also called Jesus) by misapplying the Scriptures. However, Yahshua, fully knowing the Scriptures, cast him aside with these words:

Although we know that the Word of God can be used to cast off Satan and his spirits, it is best not to engage them in dialogue. Yahshua, for example, commanded the devils (the evil spirits of Satan) not to even speak:

Unclean spirits, called the "spirits of devils," are also those of gods or goddesses (see Online Greek Bible Lexicon). They come out of the mouths of those who have them:

These demonic spirits are transmitted from the mouths of those under Satan’s power, whether through incantations, appealing words, or in some other way, to deceive the rulers and people of the world into opposing Yahweh.

Those who are unaware of the tactics of Satan can easily mistake him for an angel of light and believe that his ministers are "ministers of righteousness:"

Paul warned the Corinthians:

We need to beware of enchanting words that appeal to our reason, but are contrary to the Word of God.

Kerby F. Fannin, Ph.D., Director

P.O. Box 260, 114 East Main Street
Addison, Michigan 49220 U.S.A.

biblical@ibiblical.org

517-547-7494

You may view this and past editions online at:

www.ibiblical.org