Satan Speaks

I spent some quiet time tonight preparing for this post. As I thought about this chapter in War of Words, I realized that I really want to accurately reflect what Paul David Tripp has written, as well as reference scripture correctly. If any of you are Bible scholars and could provide insight into the scriptural references, PLEASE, I beg you, do so. I want to learn and grow through this. I want to be challenged and stretched.

As I was preparing and thinking, I realized that I haven't given you much of an overview of this book. Being the good teacher that I am, I used the resources available to me: the Table of Contents. Tripp has a clear and concise plan for his delivery of this book. I'd like to share that with you now.

Part One: Talk is Not Cheap
God Speaks
Satan Speaks
The Word in the Flesh
Idol Words

Part Two: A new Agenda for Our Talk
He is King!
Following the King for All the Wrong Reasons
Speaking for the King
Getting to the Destination
Citizens in Need of Help
On the King's Mission

Part Three: Winning the War of Words
First Things First
Winning the War of Words
Choosing Your Words

I hope you can see where we are and where we are going. It was helpful for me to look over that. There are definitely some chapters that have piqued my interest.

Back to Satan Speaks.

I knew at the beginning of this chapter it would make me emotional. I tend to cry easily. My feelings are plastered all over my sleeves.

Imagine a perfect world. God with His people. His people in perfect fellowship with each other. No sin.

Enter Serpent stage left.

Loud sobbing from the second row, isle seat. That's me. I wanted to cry (and sometimes did) each time I read this chapter (which is three times now). I yearn to live in that perfect communion with God. To understand perfectly and to be understood perfectly.

It was not to be.

In Genesis 3, several things happened.

God has instructed Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden or they will die. Eve has an encounter with Satan himself, present in the form of a serpent. Satan convinces Eve that she will not die, but will become LIKE God and know good and evil. Eve believes the lie, eats of the fruit, convinces Adam to eat of the fruit.

IN THAT MOMENT, all things change. At that bite, the world is altered for the rest of history.

This is life changing for me--what is to come. I was taught the story of Adam and Eve as a young child. In my mind it went something like this: There was a man and a woman. They lived in a garden. God told them not to eat apples. A snake told the woman to eat one of the forbidden apples. Now we have sin.

Oh, boy, do we ever!!! This is so much bigger than "now we have sin."

Tripp points out all the "firsts" that come with this passage of scripture.

For the first time:
1.) the authority of God is challenged. (pg. 20)
2.) an interpretation of life differs from God's. (pg. 21)
3.) a lie is spoken. (pg. 22)
4.) people spoke against each other. (pg. 23)

These four "firsts" plague our communication today. They are the war of words.

"Many of the problems we experience when talking with one another emerge from the fact that we have usurped the authority of God: We say what we want to say, when and how we want to say it." (pg. 20)

Prior to the serpent encouraging Eve to sample the forbidden fruit, claiming that what God had said was untrue, Adam and Eve lived in perfect submission to God. The world was forever altered when God's authority was challenged.

One of my favorite lines from this chapter is "Word problems are often interpretation problems." I can not begin to tell you how many arguments my husband and I have had where we are arguing the same exact point, but so differently and so passionately that we don't realize we actually want the same thing. Our interpretations are so vastly different that we don't understand what the other person is saying.

Until the moment the serpent spoke, not a lie had been spoken between Adam and Eve, or between God and his creation. Every conversation has been perfectly truthful. Then a lie was spoken. Tripp says, "Every word we speak is rooted either in the truth or in a lie." There is no gray area.

One of the portions of this lesson in Genesis 3 that I've never considered before is when Adam accuses Eve. Instead of being an advocate for Eve, he throws her under the bus. That had never happened before. After eating the fruit, it is not only their relationship with God that changes, but their relationship with one another.

"Talk is not longer easy or safe." (pg. 25)

I'm going to stop here. Tripp has some fabulous scripture references that I want to reflect on tomorrow.

I am praying for you. I saw that 27 visitors have come to this site. I spent time praying for each of you today. I don't know your specific prayer needs. Feel free to leave a comment. I'm eager to have a dialog with you. Let's talk about what you think about this. Did it make you think about communication? Are you struggling to communicate clearly and effectively with someone? Can we pray together?

In Him,
Natalie