What was the first lie told in the Bible by Satan?
We know that Satan is a murderer and a liar. The Lord Jesus, speaking of Satan, said this in John 8:44, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Not only is Satan a liar, but he is the father of lies. All falsehood in the world owes its existence to Satan. As Christians, we are warned about Satan in 1 Peter 5:8 which says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” If you are a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, then you have an enemy. This enemy, as a roaring lion, is looking to devour you. Thank the Lord for the promise of 1 John 4:4 that tells us, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” Satan is the one that is in the world; the Holy Spirit is the one that is in you…and He is far greater and powerful than our enemy, Satan. By the power of God, we have overcome all that oppose the Lord. We are told in Romans 8:37, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
The first lie that we read about that Satan spoke to man is found in Genesis 3:1-6, “Now the serpent was more subtil 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? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 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. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 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. 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 did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” How do we know this serpent represents Satan? Let’s read Revelation 12:9, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Here and in Revelation 20:2, Satan is referred to as “that old serpent”, so we have no doubt that the serpent in Genesis, chapter 3, is indeed Satan.
Notice how that Satan did not begin by telling Eve a lie in the Garden of Eden. First, he questioned what God had told her. He said in Genesis 3:1, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” How subtle he was to begin by causing Eve to doubt the words of God. Eve told the serpent that they were not allowed to eat of, or touch, the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil or they might die. That is not what the Lord said. Let’s read the exact words of the Lord to Adam in Genesis 2:17, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Do you notice the difference in what the Lord said and in what Eve said? The Lord did not tell them they could not touch the fruit and He did not say they might die if they ate of the fruit. He said they would definitely die if they ate of the fruit.
After realizing that Eve did not really know what God said, Satan then lied to her. We read in Genesis 3:4, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” A definite and bold lie from the father of lies! This is how Satan seeks to devour, or ruin us. When we become complacent about the Word of the Lord; when we become careless and apathetic about staying in the Word of God, Satan knows that we are easy targets for his lies. As we read earlier in 1 Peter 5:8, we need to be sober and vigilant. That means we are to be alert and watchful. As we read of Satan in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that says, “…we are not ignorant of his devices.” Don’t let the father of lies lead you away from the truth of the scriptures. Stay in the Word of God. Satan has not truth in him, but our savior, Jesus Christ IS the truth!!!