done ever since. His lie was, "Ye shall not surely die". There was no lie in the words,

"Ye shall be as gods (or God), knowing good and evil". That which was forbidden to

Adam under pain of death is held out as a mark of spiritual growth in Heb. 5: 14. The

full-grown ones, the perfect, have their senses exercised to discriminate between good

and evil. Whatever Adam may have done had no outside influence been brought to bear

upon him is not a matter for us to speculate upon. Scripture records the introduction of

an item that completely altered the whole aspect of the trial and its consequences. That

item was the temptation by a wise and superior being, enforced by deception and guile.

If we cannot recognize any alteration of the test by the introduction of this outside

temptation we may also refuse to recognize any modification of the penalty, but we

believe a little consideration will show that the introduction of an outside temptation

made a very great difference. Think for a moment of the book of Job; Satan is allowed to

test Job to the extreme, yet Job in the end receives double for his loss, and Satan has the

mortification of knowing that by the record of the book of Job, there is on permanent

record a classic example of how he overreached himself, and that out of intended evil

God brought ultimate good. Such we believe is the case in connection with the fall of

Adam. In the case of Job we are allowed a glimpse of the heavenly and invisible side of

the history, a glimpse denied to Job himself. We are, however, allowed no such insight in

the case of the temptation of Eve. With suddenness the tempter is introduced into the

narrative of Scripture. "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field

which the Lord God had made." He raises questionings regarding the will and word of

God. He holds out the bait, "Ye shall be as gods" (or God); he lies by saying, "Ye shall

not surely die".  The woman was deceived, "the serpent beguiled Eve through his

subtilty" (II Cor. 11: 3), "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in

the transgression". When Adam was asked by the Lord, "Hast thou eaten of the tree

whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" Adam replied, "The woman

whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat". We cannot

believe that Adam was trifling. He stood in his shame before his God. We believe he

truthfully stated his case. He was not deceived like his wife was, but went into sin out of

attachment to the woman who had been given him. The Lord apparently accepted his

reply, for He addressed the woman, "What is this that thou hast done?" The woman's

reply also stated truthfully the case, "The serpent beguiled me and I did eat." No word of

censure, no word of judgment is addressed to the guilty pair, but the curse is pronounced

upon the serpent. Enmity also is pronounced as between the woman and the serpent,

between her seed and his, and in the pronouncing of the serpent's sentence comes the first

great Messianic promise, "it shall bruise thy head, and Thou shalt bruise his heel". Adam

and Eve must have wondered at this first great exhibition of grace. The evil one had

overreached himself.  Intent upon accomplishing the downfall of man, his very

temptation provided an opportunity for the exercise of mercy. To the woman who had

sinned under the influence of deception, and whose action and invitation had involved

Adam, the Lord says:--

Sorrow is the word that is most emphasized. It occurs again in the words spoken to

Adam:--