1The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

2“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3“It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

4“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5“God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” Genesis 3:1-5

When evil enters the picture it starts with lies. Evil calls into question what God has said. Evil always tests our grasp on God — who God is and what God has said. Will we diminish God in our lives by eroding His Word – either by taking from it or by adding to it?

Then the outright confrontation comes. “You won’t die!” “Your eyes will be opened.” “You will be like God.”

The serpent presents God as one who is holding out on them, who can’t be trusted. The serpent presents the experiential knowledge of evil as a necessary prerequisite for being divine, complete, and powerful. He lies.