"MORE SUBTLE!"

Genesis 3:1-7            (KJV)
"3 Now the serpent was "MORE SUBTLE" 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’?”
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.”
6 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 ate, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he ate.
7 And the EYES of them both WERE OPENED, and they KNEW that they were NAKED; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves things to gird about."


Growing up there was one translation of scripture that I was exposed to, the King James Version.  Using a website designed to show various interpretations of the Word is a tool I use to get differing perspectives.  This morning I decided to see what other words were used for the word in Genesis 3:1 when scripture declares that the serpent was "MORE SUBTLE".  The words I found were shrewdest, cunning, crafty, wiley, feller, clever, astute, sneakier, and more intelligent.  The translation that stood out most to me was from the "New Life Version" which said the "snake was more able to fool" than any other creation.

The enemy is a master of disguise and he uses any tool at his disposal to draw glory from GOD JEHOVAH!  Ephesians 6:11-12 (ESV) informs us "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the "SCHEMES" of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."  The devil uses any means he can to imitate GOD, but HE can only fake it!

A group called Newsong used to sing a song saying you can't fit a square peg in a round hole.  In that song it said "you can try to fill your life with anything but Christ, but it just won't work"!   The imitation that the devil tries to pass off as the real thing will NOT quench the inner  thirst that we are created with.  The only thing that can quench that thirst is the Creator HIMSELF, JESUS CHRIST!

The spiritual "eyes" of Adam and Eve were opened when they decided to be like a god.  GOD had warned them that "death" would be the penalty for disobedience of HIS Word. The enemy used "deception" to make them think GOD was talking about physical death, when all along GOD was referring to spiritual death.  Don't be "deceived" by a spirit that the Bible describes as "MORE SUBTLE" than any other!  The only way to quench the thirst that we all have is to allow the Creator to put HIMSELF in you!  The enemy can be "MORE SUBTLE" all he wants, but he can't imitate the real thing!