What Was Taken Will Be Restored
A message can speak about God while directing someone away from what He has said. In the garden, the serpent does not begin by asking the woman to abandon every thought of God. He questions God’s instruction, contradicts its warning, and presents a desirable outcome. — Genesis 3:1–5
This brings us to an important part of hearing: recognizing the subject of a message does not establish the source of its direction.
Does speaking about God mean someone is speaking faithfully? What happens when a message retains His name but changes His instruction?
What Had Already Been Given?
Before the serpent’s conversation with the woman, the account records the instruction given to the man. YHWH (יהוה) permits eating from the trees of the garden, while identifying one tree from which he must not eat: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The warning connects eating from that tree with death. — Genesis 2:16–17
Permission, a boundary, and a consequence are already present.
The next voice must therefore be examined alongside what has already been spoken. Its appeal cannot replace that examination.
When someone offers another explanation, do I return to the instruction—or allow the new explanation to become my starting point?
The Promise of Something Desirable
The serpent’s words connect eating with opened eyes and becoming like God, knowing good and evil. The woman then sees the tree as good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. She takes and eats. — Genesis 3:4–6
Notice what makes the offer attractive: food, sight, and wisdom.
These details matter to our study of Hearing, Seeing, and Revealing. What is heard affects how the offer is considered. What appears desirable becomes something taken.
Am I testing the direction of an invitation—or only considering what it promises me? Can a desire for understanding make me less attentive to whose instruction I am following?
The desire to know does not remove the need to examine the means by which knowledge is offered.
Opened Eyes—and What Followed
After they eat, the account says their eyes are opened. What they recognize is their nakedness. They make coverings, and later hide when they hear YHWH (יהוה) in the garden. — Genesis 3:7–10
The opening of their eyes must be read with what follows it.
This prevents us from treating every claim of opened eyes, new understanding, or revelation as sufficient evidence that the direction is good. We still need to examine the instruction, the action, and the result.
What has this understanding led me to do? Has it brought me into faithful obedience—or given me a reason to set aside what God has said?
Hearing Becomes Following
When Jesus describes his sheep, he connects knowing his voice with following him. He also describes their refusal to follow a stranger. Recognition is expressed through their response. — John 10:3–5, 27
This brings our attention beyond the sound of a voice.
A familiar speaker, a confident explanation, or a message repeated by many people still requires examination. The question is what we are being directed to follow.
Have I become familiar with a person’s explanation without examining whether it agrees with Scripture? Would I recognize a change in direction if it came through someone I already trusted?
Paul Returns to the Serpent’s Deception
Paul brings the serpent’s deception of Eve into his warning to the Corinthians. His concern involves their minds being led away from sincere and pure devotion to Christ. He then speaks of someone proclaiming another Jesus, receiving a different spirit, or accepting a different gospel. — 2 Corinthians 11:3–4
The comparison is important. Paul does not leave the garden account isolated from those listening to claims about Christ.
A message can use a familiar name while presenting something different. That is why recognition cannot depend on the name alone. We must examine what is being said about the one named, what spirit is being received, and what message is being accepted.
If I hear the name Jesus, do I also examine what is being taught about him? Am I testing the message—or assuming the familiar name makes that unnecessary?
John likewise instructs believers to test the spirits rather than believe every spirit, connecting that instruction with false prophets who have gone out into the world. — 1 John 4:1
Testing is part of faithful listening.
Returning to the Word
The Bereans receive the message eagerly while examining the Scriptures daily to determine whether the things being taught are so. Their willingness to listen does not replace examination; the two appear together. — Acts 17:11
This gives us a question to carry throughout the study:
Can I listen with an open heart while still examining carefully? Can I question an explanation without mistreating the person who offers it?
We do not need to choose between accepting everything and refusing to hear anyone. We can listen, examine, and remain willing to be corrected.
Trust in YHWH (יהוה) also requires us to consider where our own understanding has become something we refuse to question. — Proverbs 3:5–6
The garden brings the danger into view. The Shepherd’s words bring hearing and following together. Paul and John remind us that claims about Christ and the spirit being received must be tested.
Whose words have I allowed to guide me—and have I examined where they are leading?
Threads to Follow
Instruction before the competing voice: Permission, the prohibited tree, and the warning. — Genesis 2:16–17
Words, desire, and taking: What the serpent promises and what the woman sees. — Genesis 3:1–6
Opened eyes and the outcome: Nakedness, coverings, and hiding. — Genesis 3:7–10
Knowing the Shepherd’s voice: Hearing expressed through following. — John 10:3–5, 27
Another Jesus and a different spirit: Paul’s comparison with the serpent’s deception. — 2 Corinthians 11:3–4
Testing what is received: Examining spirits and searching the Scriptures. — 1 John 4:1; Acts 17:11
Next—The wilderness: What happens when Scripture itself is quoted as part of a temptation? — Matthew 4:1–11
The books were opened…
🌿Studies by Maria Emilia ~ 🗺️ Continue exploring: Visit Bible Books to find studies organized by book of the Bible, along with related studies and links.
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