John and Jenny Fulton

The Ways of Demons and The Legacy of Eve 

By John Fulton 

In 2 Corinthians 2:11, Paul says, “so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes” (NASB95).  

Think about the second half of that verse. “For we are not ignorant of his schemes,” Paul tells his audience. Now, in Paul’s day, that may very well have been true, but in this day, it very much is not. Satan, demons, angels, and even, quite frankly, the Holy Spirit and God, are condemned to the sphere of Hollywood, fantasy novels, and the horror genre. The American church doesn’t teach about the spirit realm and its reality (see The Spirit Realm is Real) because it doesn’t understand it. Instead, it fixates not even on the Risen Lord and His role after the crucifixion, but on the physical Jesus of space and time because of the very fact He was physical and tangible, and in so doing, the church turns Him into something more fit for the cover of a romance novel than the Bible.  

In this fixation on the physical Jesus and complete lack of understanding and training on the spirit realm, the church has left Christians helpless, sheep without even a shepherd, lost and vulnerable to every whim of the spirit realm and the demons that abide in it and interact with the physical world as they roam about. Michael Heiser’s series of books on Demons, Angels, and The Unseen Realm, are good primers into the truth and operation of the spirit realm and its interaction with the physical fantasy we live in. This article breaks down the Garden of Eden incident to provide insight into the schemes of the devil and his compatriots and how they work in the lives of men. 

In the story of the interaction between Satan and Eve (Genesis 3), Satan starts off the conversation with a very interesting word, “Indeed”. Other translations often have, “Did God say,” but the intent of either phrase is the same and should stand out in the following way. “Indeed” is not a word that one starts off a conversation with, nor is a phase like, “Did God say,” or even, “For also,” (another legitimate translation). All three are phrases one finds in the midst of a conversation. Satan hasn’t just slithered up to Eve and struck up a conversation out of the blue. They have been talking for a while and we’re picking up on the conversation mid-stream.   

Before moving on, it’s also important to touch on a few points here, points that will be repeated for emphasis later. First, the word translated Satan in Genesis should not be understood as the name of an individual. The word simply means, “adversary.” It was a court term that essentially can be thought of as a parallel to our word, “prosecutor.” Because of this, from now on I will replace Satan with “the satan” to better emphasize Eve is not talking to a man in a red suit with a pitchfork. Second, the word translated “snake” or “serpent” also has the essential meaning of “shimmery and bright;” think the shimmery, glistening scales on many snakes. Third, nowhere in the conversation does Eve seem creeped out or appear to find the conversation unusual. And why should she, for she walks about in the garden with Yahweh and other spiritual beings, along with the satan. Fourth, “Indeed” is a challenge word. It’s a word meant to cause one to defend their position. It says, “Is that really true? Prove it. I doubt what you’re saying.” Finally, to summarize these points, we pick up Eve in the middle of a conversation with someone she knows quite well – she’s  seen the satan in the garden before, he’s extremely beautiful and pleasant to the behold, and he’s just made a statement whose effect is to put her on the defensive. 

With the scene set, Eve’s response further emphasizes the points above. The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;’” (Gen 3:2 NASB95). This is not the response of a woman shocked that a serpent has walked up to her and struck up a conversation. She’s used to talking to the serpent; it’s no big deal; it’s not unusual. He’s just another spirit being, like Yahweh, that she sees and talks to from time to time. She’s used to talking to the serpent and may even consider him a friend. She has no reason to suspect him of treachery, and this is clearly not the first conversation they’ve had about God. They both know Him from personal conversations with Him, and they both know the other knows Him. They are two beings familiar with each other and the sound of each other’s voice, continuing a conversation that’s been going on for a while. And this is the first point to understand about demons: you know their voices; you are very familiar with them and have had conversations with them even though you didn’t know it (or maybe you did), for those voices in your head suggesting you jump on the train tracks, or eat that big wheel of cheese when you know your cholesterol is bad, are not always or necessarily your own. You know their voice from your own because, if you pay close attention, it has a different feel, a different tone than your own self-conversations (again, see The Spirit Realm is Real for more). And like this situation, both you and the demons that talk to you, know God. 

Let’s step back to the full statement the satan leads off with: “And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’”” (Gen 3:1 NASB96)? 

He starts with “Indeed,” a phrase, a word that immediately puts one’s mind on the defensive, a phrase meant to say, “Are you sure?” You can see in his phrase a glimpse of what he and Eve had been conversing about. She had probably just said something to the effect of, “God said we can’t eat from the tree which is in the middle of the garden.” And the satan, having talked with her repeatedly, having slowly primed her thoughts here and there with slight adulterations, throws in a twist to what she’s said, which was true and correct and an accurate representation of God’s teachings, by first saying, “Indeed,” which causes her to doubt the accuracy of her own understanding. He then makes a subtle change from “can’t eat from the tree which is in the middle of the garden,” to “can’t eat from any tree.”  

And then Eve falls for the bait. In wanting to correct her acquaintance’s understanding of God and what she said, through wanting God to be rightly understood and represented, she jumps in and replies, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die’ ” (Gen 3:2-3 NASB 95). She’s on the defensive, off her footing, and the satan has her primed to doubt her understanding of what God taught. He’s also ready to get her fixated on the tree with doubts about God in her mind. She is about to look at something she wouldn’t have thought of without the prompting of the satan, the demon. Her mind was not on disobeying God or eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. She knew what was right, she knew the truth of what God said to her and taught her. She trusted Yahweh implicitly as one who cared for her. But now she’s primed with doubt, primed to think maybe God doesn’t have her best interest at heart, primed to act in a way she would never have thought to do. Primed by repeated conversations with the satan. And now he’s going to strike. 

But before he strikes, look back at what he did. He said, “Indeed,” which put Eve on the back foot and triggered the mind to closely analyze what came next. Then he introduced a subtle word change into the discussion, a subtle and intentional lie. He changed “the tree” to “any tree.” Now he can get Eve to start thinking that if all the other trees are fine to eat from, why not “the tree”? What is God holding out on me? The satan can get her fixated on “the tree,” and thinking about doing something she would never have thought to do on her own. The satan has put a lie in the mouth of God by implying Yahweh said Eve could not eat of ANY tree in the garden. On the defensive, desiring to defend herself and Yahweh, desiring to correct the thinking of her associate and maybe even friend, Eve takes the bait and attempts to correct the satan by saying,  “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” 

You should see in her response what she’s trying to do. She’s first trying to correct the satan’s understanding. She’s trying to give him a right understanding of God when she tells him, “No, we can eat of the trees.” But then she falls into the trap when she says, “It’s just the one in the middle we can’t eat from.” The bait was set, and she took it, for her mind that was put on the defensive is now fully fixated on the tree she would normally never have thought about. She’s now set up to think that maybe God has been lying to her and holding out on her. The satan has used her esteem for and relationship with God against her to get her fixated on something that’s actually bad for her. The satan now follows up with another lie, one that builds upon the established doubt, to reel her into taking a step she would never have taken on her own. 

“The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:4-6, NASB95).  

In this state of doubt, backpedaling and questioning her understanding, primed to think that maybe God hasn’t actually had her best interest at heart, Eve stares at the tree and its fruit and for the first time questions what she had taken for granted. Maybe the satan is right. Maybe God has been holding out on me. Maybe Yahweh has been lying to me. The fruit does look good and pleasant to eat like all the other fruits. Maybe the satan, my companion in the garden, has a point and eating it would remove my dependency upon God and Adam. I could be in charge. In this state of doubt, Eve makes her choice. Then, having eaten of it herself, she uses her life-giving powers and influence over Adam (see The Erasure of Women) to get him to do that which he knew was wrong and would not otherwise have done. 

Let’s take a pause in the flow of this story. We have before us a perfect example of exactly how the demonic realm works in the lives of men. We all know God. We may not walk about in Eden per se, but we all walk around in a world surrounded by spirits, and we interact with them. We are very familiar with them; we know their voices as well as we know the voices of spouses, children, colleagues, friends, acquaintances and the checkout clerk at the grocery store. The demons are constantly bringing things up, constantly trying to get us to engage in behaviors they enjoy, or that are destructive to us, things the angels and Holy Spirit and our own spirit know are damaging to us. For example, I know coffee wrecks my stomach and that I should avoid it. I know my body can’t tolerate wine and that sugar is not good. Yet, I also very much know the voice of the demons that say, “Indeed, is it really so bad to share a glass of wine with your wife,” or “Indeed, has God really said you must avoid coffee.” And then, if I don’t bring to those harmful ideas the truths I know and hold fast, just like Eve, I fall, and my body reminds me surely enough that I fell for the lie and now suffer. The Bible tells us that when the satans, the demons, come calling, all we need to do is hold fast and they will flee from us (James 4:7, Ephesians 6:13). This is true, but what it doesn’t say as directly is just how persistent they can be and that holding fast isn’t as easy and simple as it may sound. 

Returning to the original flow, we have Eve unsure of her understanding of God, doubting His character and trustworthiness. Maybe Yahweh has been holding out on her; the fruit does look good and has clear benefits, even God said it will bring Wisdom, and being wise like God is clearly good. Isn’t it? Having accepted that the fruit was bad for her to eat, having accepted it as a child accepts from a parent the statement that something is bad for them; she now succumbs to the constant nagging of one she believes to be a friend, but who truly has ill intent and just wants to justify themselves by getting another to do something bad so they can feel better about the bad they have done. Eve, at this point, sins, it is said. But did Eve really sin, or is the sin really the sin of the satan? Without his prompting and egging on, she would have never thought to look at the tree. She would have never thought to eat of its fruit. She would never have been in the place of doubt or even been able to construct the logic needed to override the teaching that God and Adam had given her. In this instance, it was not Eve who truly committed the sin, it was the satan, and the proof is in what Yahweh does when He comes upon Adam, Eve, and the satan after the deed is done. This is not to say Eve did not violate the commandment given to her by God. She did, but the origin of the act was not her own but that of another, and God knew where to put the blame. 

Let’s read the aftermath. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat all the days of your life; and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth children; yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.” (Genesis 3:7–20 NASB95). 

First we see that, having acted on the prompting of the satan and ultimately having taken on his sin, having realized they did what they knew they shouldn’t do and that which was bad for them (me having some wine), Adam and Eve try to fix the consequences of the sin themselves, and when God draws near, they hide from Him. Note that God doesn’t hide from them, they hide from Him. God seeks them out to be in relationship with them. We do as they did, and God does as He always does. By this I mean that when we take ownership of a sin which is not truly our own but whispered to us and originating out of the sinful lusts of a demon bent on our destruction, we too hide from God. Or when we realize we can’t, we too get angry with Him and blame Him for “the woman” or “the serpent.” But God knows, as He did then, the origin of the sin, and He just wants to be in relationship with us; He wants to help us walk better with Him. In this state of taking on the guilt and sin of the demon, we become afraid of what God will do to us and contrive ways to convince Him it’s not our fault, when in essence it’s not, and we end up blaming Him and not recognizing the truth that an outside force led us to doubt Him and do that which we knew was bad. Adam finds himself blaming God for the fear, doubt, and evil in his life and not focusing on and blaming the real source: a lying, deceiving, God-hating demon. Again, I don’t mean to imply that every sinful or terrible thing one does is motivated by an outside influence, but clearly, sometimes it is. 

Stepping back to the statement that the sin was truly the satan’s: I say this because if you look at what God says to them, the only one who is cursed for his actions is the satan. Eve is not cursed, nor is Adam; although both receive consequences for their actions. Still, they are not cursed. Satan was the one whose heart was bent on destroying and disobeying God, so only he was cursed and punished. His offspring are like him – they hate men and God and wish to see both die or be miserable. Eve showed a love for God, to walk in His ways, correctly describe His character, and stand up for Him. God put enmity between Eve and the satan because there hadn’t been, and she didn’t realize she should be weary of him and his efforts to drive her away from God. She was ignorant of the satan’s true ways and was too trusting.  

Seeds germinate a like copy. The satan’s seed are people who hate men and God and seek to deceive God’s people into taking on and committing their sinful desires. And when God’s people give in, they bruise their heels and hurt their walk. This is what God is saying when He says the seeds of the satan will bruise the heel of the seeds of the woman. The people and spirit beings who hate God will cause the walk with God of the those who love Him to be disrupted but not destroyed. Bruises don’t incapacitate you, but they definitely result from bad moments that hurt. And when they are on the heel, they cause walking (your relationship with God) to be harder for a while. Correspondingly, Eve’s seed love God and seek to correct the error of the satan and his seed’s thinking. They work to bring right understanding of God to people and the spirit realm and hence, Eve’s seed bruises the heads of the satan’s seed. The head is the place of thoughts and thinking and those who follow after Eve’s first example of trying to bring right understanding of God to others will hurt the head, the thinking, logic, words, of those who hate Him. Anyone who has been angered by the words of another knows how much such thoughts and words can bruise the head. 

Now, to walk back to the consequences that befell Eve: in getting Adam to eat of the tree, she misused her life-giving power to rule over her husband and cause him to do what he knew was wrong. So now her life-giving power (childbirth) comes with amplified pain. The painfulness of childbirth is given to women as a reminder to not use their life-giving spiritual powers and abilities to influence, to cause others to violate the precepts of God. It serves as a reminder of the garden and the reality of people and spiritual forces that seek to destroy one’s walk with God and what happens when we listen. Her desire for her husband is a reminder of how listening to the demon and voices contrary to what she new was God’s truths caused both of them to listen to the lies of demons and lose trust in God. 

For Adam, the ground, his means of providing for the needs of life, is made difficult as a reminder of how he allowed others to override his direct knowledge of what God wanted him to do and how he acted in violation of it.  

Adam ends by calling his wife, Eve, which means the mother of all the living. He doesn’t call her the mother of all, nor the mother of the dead, nor the mother of the living and the dead. He calls her the mother of the living as a direct commentary on her heart. She was of Yahweh. Her heart was after Him, after the source of all life, after, as Jesus says, “the God of the Living.” Yes, she stumbled and fell into the trap of an evil spirit, as do we all from time to time, but her heart, and that of those who would be of her seed afterward, was towards God and carried the desire to bring right understanding of God and His ways into the world. 

Much of my personal journey with God has included His efforts to help me see the reality of the spirit realm around me and the influence of demons in my life. In various times and places, He has worked to make me aware of the schemes of the devil and how some of the thoughts and desires I have taken to be my own, and the resultant shame that came with them, are not actually my own, but belong solidly in the camp of people and spirits bent on bringing me to their same miserable state and ultimately, have sought my destruction. I hope that in this narration the reader can see, through the scene in the garden, how demons work in the lives of all, including in the hearts of the pure and good, in those who love God and want to rightly understand and represent Him.   

Once more, I am not trying to imply that every time anyone sins that the desire and source of that sin can be attributed to another. There are clearly seeds of the satan in this world – people and spirit beings who hate God and are bent on disobeying His ways and causing those who seek to follow God to stumble. There are times when we, too, can wish for things we know are bad for us or desire to be in charge instead of God, or…  No, I’m not trying to imply any of that. But I am trying to lay out before those who feel a connection to something greater, to those who know of or sense the reality of God and yet see the evil in the world or grieve over their own “misdeeds” that there are other forces out there influencing you to do that which you know is not good. Eve did not cause the fall of mankind, nor did Adam; it was the satan who did that, and he was rightly cursed for it. I am trying to help the reader be aware of the schemes of the devil and how he roams about trying to cause you to crave that which you don’t crave and do that which you don’t want to do. And he does this because he hates God, and he hates you for seeking or loving God. He does this to cause you to hide from God out of shame or to try to fix things under your own power, or even to develop your own hatred of God because where was He to protect you from the onslaught.  

I hope the reader can see how the demons work by slowly repeating a lie, slowly evolving it further and further away from the original truth, until that which is bad looks good. I hope the reader can see that the troubles and pains of life are set upon us as reminders of how the dark spirit realm and dark people are constantly working to drive us away from God and that on those occasions when they succeed the answer is not to run and hide from God, but to seek Him out, for He is seeking you out. There, of course, will be consequences to the stumble, but one of those is not separation from God, nor loss of relationship with Him. He is not ashamed of you; He’s seeking you out to help you. He truly loves you. I pray that God leads this article to those who need it, to those whom it will help open their eyes and free them from torment that is not their own. May they be blessed to start the journey of being freed from the lies of the demons that seek their destruction. May they understand that God sees and knows their true heart and sees and knows who is truly to blame for those bad acts. Be free, and know that He is God, and He is for you! 

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*Cover Image by Karen .t from Pixabay 

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