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Shabbat Shalom. This morning, I would like to start with a story, a true story you may have heard before…
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
The Lord then made the Earth in a literal six days. On the sixth day, He created a man, Adam, and a woman, Eve. They lived in Eden, the garden of the Lord, filled with every tree that was pleasant to eat and see. The Lord then gave Adam this command, which was also given to Eve:
“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Everything was perfect in God’s garden. Everyone was at peace, filled with Shalom, wholeness, and completeness. There was no sorrow, grief, or death.
But then came a day when everything changed.
A serpent appeared, not just any serpent, but a serpent controlled by the devil, Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. We read.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
With one seemingly innocent question, a chain of events began that destroyed Adam and Eve’s lives, brought death and suffering into the world, and set into motion every problem we experience. Wind back the clock on every tragedy, every sin, every broken relationship in human history, and we arrive at this moment. A crucial moment with a crucial question.
Did God Really Say?
My message this morning is simple. I want to examine this question and examine the tactics Satan used in these few words. Then I want us to consider how we should respond when the same question is asked today. Because this is not just a story, Satan is also asking us this question in many ways today.
Let’s begin with the foundational question: Did God Really Say?
In Genesis 3, Satan asks Eve whether God really said that they must not eat from any tree in the garden. We are told that Satan is incredibly cunning, but when we unpack this question, we see its true cleverness. There are many aspects of this question worth discussing, but I want to focus on just three major points.
First, notice it appears to be a simple question. What is the harm in answering a question from someone who wants clarification? But this is what is known as a “leading question”; it is a question that pushes you to a specific answer. In a sales situation, this would be a question like, “When would you like to purchase this new car?” The shift from if to when seems innocent, but it is significant. I am leading you to assume you have already decided to buy the car. Satan uses a leading question to make Eve doubt what she has been told, and that maybe what she had been commanded was a lie.
Second, notice that Satan begins with the statement, Did God Really Say? Not, Did God Command. The Lord did not “say” this to Adam and Eve; He commanded them. If someone says you should go to the store, you might go or you might not. But if someone commands you, that is significantly different. A command carries the expectation of obedience. Satan plants even more doubt with the word ‘really.’ “Maybe God didn’t actually say what you thought He said, Eve.”
Third, Satan makes an intentionally untrue statement that forces Eve to give more than a yes or no answer. God did not command Eve not to eat from any tree, just one specific tree. Satan expands God’s restriction from one tree to every tree. This tactic minimizes the freedom God gave Adam and Eve. Instead, their focus is on what they were commanded not to do. This is designed to create confusion and draw Eve into a deeper conversation.
So, Satan’s question is not genuine. He knows what the Lord has commanded Adam and Eve and uses language to attack them and their relationship with the Lord. We can summarize Satan’s tactics in his question into three specific points.
- Satan uses seemingly innocent questions to create doubt.
- Satan lowers the commands of God to simple suggestions.
- Satan twists God’s truth to move our focus from God’s Word to Satan’s lies.
Now you might be wondering what any of this has to do with us today? Satan is not chatting us up through a serpent. But it is a fact that he is still using the same tactics. In our fallen world, they are even more effective. When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden, they lived without experiencing deception and lies. We live in a world that bombards us with lies. We are flooded with half-truths, manipulation, and propaganda. With the rise of AI and fake information, it has become increasingly more difficult to recognize lies.
Many of the sins and debates dividing our society trace back to one of these tactics Satan used in the Garden. Here are some examples of how these tactics are used today.
First, we have the seemingly innocent or leading question. Did God Really Say? Did God really say life begins at conception? Did God really say sexual immorality is a sin, even when our society embraces it? Did God really say we should love our enemies? Does God really expect us to help others with more than our thoughts and prayers? I mean, is that what these teachings really mean?
We live in an age of revision and reinterpretation. Many people think Scripture is an antiquated set of fairy tales and ancient, bigoted opinions. They will ask questions like, “Don’t you think the Bible is just some old men’s opinions?” “Don’t you think we can find better answers and beliefs than some old book?” “Don’t you think a loving God would be okay if we decided to live our lives the way we want?” And if we push back, we are told to be more ‘open-minded’. After all, they are ‘just asking questions’, leading questions that are designed to put us on the defensive.
Second, we have the watering down of God’s commands. The clear commands of God are reinterpreted both academically and casually as opinions or perspectives. We live in a culture that denies that objective truth exists, yet somehow, they are extremely confident that our beliefs based on a normal reading of God’s Word are wrong.
To the clear teachings of God, we hear the response, “That’s just your opinion, man.” But consider Matthew 6:24, No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Or Luke 6:27-28, “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Does that sound like casual advice? Like one opinion among many valid ones? No, it is a command. It is a command that is either obeyed or disobeyed, with real consequences.
Finally, we have intentional lies and the clever twisting of God’s truth. In the Garden, Satan fixated on God’s one restriction and ignored God’s vast freedom for Adam and Eve. The same happens today. Today, many reject the Lord, not because of what He offers, such as eternal life, peace, joy, and wisdom, but because of what He commands them not to do. Which, if we are being honest, the things that God forbids, objectively makes our lives worse. Things like gossip, sexual immorality, loving possessions, and hatred.
As followers of God’s Word, we can often find ourselves sucked into endless ‘culture wars’, online and in person. These debates waste our time and move too much of our focus away from the Lord and onto our culture. We spend so much energy defending what God says we shouldn’t do that we forget to proclaim His amazing blessings that everyone needs. We also find ourselves wasting time and energy engaging with people who are arguing in bad faith. People with no desire to really have a discussion.
When I was younger, I loved debating with people, online, in person, anywhere. It felt good to ‘win,’ to prove them wrong. But as I matured, I realized many of those debates were just feeding my ego.
Today, I tell people: I don’t debate my faith, but I’m always willing to discuss it. A discussion begins with mutual respect, where both sides are genuinely interested in listening, not just winning. I believe this approach is consistent with the command of God found in Colossians 4:5-6: Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. We are to engage with the world around us, but in ways that are defined by God, not our sinful society or our emotions.
Social media and online discourse are designed to make us ignore this command and instead become motivated by unrighteous anger. There is a term for this type of content: bait. The analogy is simple. Just as a fisherman baits a hook to make a fish bite something it would normally avoid, cunning people bait their words to make you engage with something you’d be much better off ignoring.
Genesis 3:1 is expertly crafted bait from Satan. We are baited in the same way, often through Oxford’s word of the year in 2025, Rage Bait. We’re constantly exposed to inflammatory content designed to provoke a reaction and make someone money in the process. Social media algorithms are designed to boost controversy and reward those who create this sinfully provocative content.
We can see that Satan is active today, so how do we respond to these tactics? Each one has a corresponding defense found in God’s Word.
Satan’s first tactic is to use a seemingly innocent question to create doubt and confusion. Therefore, we must truly know the Word of God.
The only way you can detect a counterfeit is by being familiar with the genuine article. If someone asks us, “Did God really say?”, we should be able to confidently respond, “Yes, God did command this. Here is what He specifically said.”
This might mean memorizing Scripture or being familiar enough with God’s Word to be able to find and explain the relevant passage. However, we are not alone in this task. Recalling Scripture is part of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But knowing God’s word is more than just being able to pass a Bible test or quote specific doctrines. It requires us to be immersed in His teachings: reading, discussing, and teaching God’s Word as a regular part of our lives.
Messiah Yeshua modeled this truth in His own response to the cunning question of Satan in the wilderness. In Matthew 4:4, He quotes Scripture and declares, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. So we combat this tactic by making the Word of the Lord our sustenance, an everyday and constant part of our lives.
Satan’s second tactic is to lower the commands of God to mere suggestions. In response, we must acknowledge and obey the Lord’s commands.
There is an old saying: everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. God’s Word is filled with commands and facts, not suggestions and opinions. In Matthew 6:24, when Messiah teaches that we cannot serve God and money, this is a command, not financial advice. When Yeshua says in Luke 6:27, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,” it is not one self-help technique found among many at the bookstore. The Gospel is not The Secret, a suggestion for manifesting our desires. Scripture is the Owner’s Manual for life. And if you have ever tried to assemble or fix something without reading the manual, you know the mess that comes from treating instructions like suggestions.
James 1:22 commands us directly: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” If we hear God’s commands and treat them as polite suggestions, we are deceiving ourselves. Deceived in the same way as Adam and Eve were by Satan.
We must be a people of action, hearing and obeying the Lord. We need to do what God’s Word says and boldly tell others, “This is what God commands.” Of course, we must understand Scripture in context. We must read the manual carefully and see what applies to us today. But we cannot treat God’s Word like a buffet. We do not choose what parts we want to obey because of how we feel or because of our society. That was the choice Adam and Eve made, and we see the disaster it has brought to our lives and our world.
Messiah Yeshua modeled this obedience in the wilderness as well. Satan tried to twist God’s promise of protection into a dare, tempting Yeshua to test Adonai. Messiah Yeshua responded by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16: “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Messiah Yeshua understood that God’s promises are not suggestions to be tested by us whenever we feel like it. They are commands that should be trusted and obeyed. Good commands that protect us from sin, and commands that contain the promise of amazing blessings. In Messiah Yeshua’s example, we have a blueprint for our response to Satan, to trust the Lord’s commands and declare boldly that they are not just simple suggestions.
Satan’s third tactic is to twist God’s truth and move our focus from God’s Word to his lies. We combat this tactic by intentionally focusing on God’s truth. This is difficult because Satan is a master of misdirection.
What is misdirection? It is the secret behind stage magic. When performing a trick, a stage magician controls your attention. They use techniques to make you look where they want you to look. While you are focused on where they want, they perform the trick where you are not looking. You never see it happen and are surprised. This is what Satan did to Eve. He focused Eve’s attention away from the abundant freedom of God and onto God’s one restriction.
Today, we face numerous distractions that give Satan opportunities to misdirect our focus. We have constant notifications on our phones. Social media feeds are filled with inflammatory content. News designed to provoke our emotions rather than inform our minds. There is even a term for spending hours with our attention distracted and misdirected, brain rot, Oxford’s word of the year in 2024. It describes the mental decline that comes from consuming endless amounts of attention-grabbing online content. [1] It is mental junk food.
Satan wants us to experience brain rot. Satan wants us to take his bait. Baiting us into arguments, rage, depression, hopelessness, and endless debates that drain our time and energy. This is his misdirection; he wants us to be distracted by things that do not matter, so we never focus on anything that does.
What is our defense against the distractions of our world? Rabbi Paul gives us the answer in Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
We must discipline our minds to focus on the things of God, not the distractions of Satan. This means intentionally spending time thinking, discussing, and even posting about what is excellent and praiseworthy. We focus on God’s Word, recognizing what God is doing in our lives, and sharing these things appropriately with others. Hearing how God is at work in this world helps us focus on Adonai and His teachings. You will not find these stories in most news reports or on most social media feeds. You must seek them out.
In the final wilderness temptation, Messiah Yeshua also confronted Satan’s lies and misdirection. Satan offered Yeshua all the kingdoms of this world, a lie, if only Yeshua would bow down to him. Satan wanted Yeshua to bypass the Cross and abandon the plan of salvation. Satan tried to shift Yeshua’s eyes from the divine plan to his counterfeit offer. But Yeshua responded in Matthew 4:10, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Messiah Yeshua refused to engage any more with Satan. He did not unpack the layers of Satan’s misdirection or debate Satan’s offer. He simply declared God’s truthful command and told Satan to leave. Messiah Yeshua’s focus was entirely on the Father, and He had no time for any of Satan’s lies.
This is our example as well. We do not need to engage in every bad-faith debate. We do not need to let brain rot consume our minds. Instead, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we discipline our minds and reject the distractions of this world. We focus on what is true, pure, and lovely.
So, when Satan asks, “Did God really say?”, we have three answers. And these are answers we can only give through the power of the Holy Spirit.
When Satan tries to make us doubt, we answer with God’s knowledge. “Yes, I know what God said.”
When Satan tries to lower God’s commands into mere suggestions, we answer with obedience. “Yes, and I will do what God commanded.”
When Satan tries to misdirect us with his lies and distractions, we focus our minds and answer with God’s truth, “Yes, I serve God alone.”
If everything we have talked about today feels overwhelming, do not feel bad. Satan has had thousands of years to perfect his craft, and we live in a society covered in deep spiritual darkness. A society like the one described in Romans 1, a society that celebrates evil and works tirelessly to find new forms of sinfulness.
But we are not alone in this battle. God, through the Holy Spirit, empowers us to resist Satan’s schemes, just as Messiah Yeshua did in the wilderness. Romans 8 reminds us that even when we do not know what to pray, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. And we know God works all things together for the good of those who love Him. So yes, the power of Satan is real. It can also feel overwhelming. But he is nothing in the face of the infinite power of our God.
This week, during our Bible study, I taught on God’s infinite and boundless nature. Adonai can do more for us than we can ask and imagine. Through the Holy Spirit living in our hearts, we can really experience transformation and freedom in our lives, in every area we need it. In our own power, resisting Satan and so much more is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.
If you have yet to experience the freedom that comes only through Messiah Yeshua, then I pray this day you will accept His invitation. Real freedom can only come from truth, and truth is found only in the Lord.
May the Lord enable all of us to resist the lies of Satan and our culture. May we grow in our knowledge of His Word and our trust in His commands. May we look forward to the day when our search for Shalom, wholeness and completeness, is finally over, when we are with the Lord for all eternity.
[1] https://corp.oup.com/news/brain-rot-named-oxford-word-of-the-year-2024/